Love and Sacrifice - A tale of War
by Timarelay
Summary: It's a war story, and the plot ideas are very much so stolen from the anime Gundam Wing. It's takes place many, many years after the pokemon anime, and centers on a war, and how it affects the lives of the hybrid soldiers fighting it. It's a somewhat dark
1. Love and Sacrifice - Prologue

_**LOVE AND SACRIFICE(v3)**_

This is a tale of War. This is a tale of Sacrifice. This is a tale of Love. 

War... 

What _is_ war? War is a set of ongoing battles between two or more opposing groups. People die, people suffer, people make sacrifices for those they love. War is wrong, there's no doubt about that. So then why do we fight them? 

Who knows? 

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): This is a tale of War_

_The year is 2051 in the pokemon world, and signs of a war are dawning. The world has been peaceful for the most part, but there's one nation, Kaita, that many fear shall be attempting world domination. It has always been a military-based country, but it has been recently increasing its military power. It has been forming what it calls 'The Kaitan Alliance', and slowly, but surely, it's been taking over the continents of Eurel and Arasia. However, the people of the pokemon world are peaceful for the most part, and do not like wars. But they do understand that they cannot just sit there and be conquered. They needed weapons, they needed some way to insure that even if they're conquered, they can retaliate. But they didn't want anything mechanical, they wanted to create the perfect soldiers, and to do that would mean years of experiments and research. _

--- 

The world conference of professors of various fields: 

"Professor Ferina Tavis, you've been disagreeing with all our suggestions, what do *you* propose we do?" Professor Harold asked. 

She stood up, thinking over her words carefully. "Well, I don't think that we should recruit orphaned babies and try bringing them up as soldiers. It just doesn't work." She paused, thinking again. "I also don't think genetically enhancing pokemon will work. Remember MewTwo? I know that's classified, but I'm quite sure we all heard about that 'little incident'." 

"So what do you think we should do?" Professor Jim demanded. He had been the one who was pressing on the genetically enhancing pokemon. 

She bent down and picked up her bag, setting it down on the table. "I was hoping someone would ask." She took out a pile of pamphlets from her briefcase and passed them down the table. "I propose we create our own soldiers." 

"Create? You mean..." Professor Nerina gasped. "You can't possibly believe we'll be able to finish in time! And besides, it was meant to be *our* secret..." 

"Finish what in time?" Professor Kris asked curiously. 

"Project H/C." Ferina replied. "Open the booklets and read for yourself." 

The other professors read, quickly skimming through. 

"That's even more impossible than genetically enhancing a biddable but intelligent pokemon!" Jim scoffed, frowning at the pamphlet, but he was immediately drowned out by the excited remarks of the other professors. 

"This is great Ferina! Did you and Nerina think this up, have you started already?" Professor May Oak asked. She was old, over sixty, but still one of the most active professors in the pokemon field, and a very highly respected one. 

"Yes, Ferina and I have started. We haven't gotten very far... Our preliminary experiments consist in trying to add pokemon DNA to adults to enhance the senses." 

"Any success?" May asked. 

"Actually, yes. We tried it on ourselves... As some of you may have noticed, Ferina no longer needs her glasses, and I can hear again. I haven't had to read lips for some time now." 

"This is wonderful! It's a perfect idea!" May exclaimed clapping her hands together. "However," she continued seriously, "we will need to split into several groups. Somewhere between seven and fifteen groups." 

"But why?" Harold asked. 

"Because, if we all work together, and we get discovered, what shall we do? We need to hope that at least one experiment succeeds!" 

"Then it should be seventeen groups, one for each type. We can organize annual meetings to compare notes and results, but other than that, we shall stay separate, for our own safeties. Nerina, Ferina, surely you two have several other assistants who know about the experiments who can be distributed to different groups." 

They nodded. 

"Good! Now, on to who gets what type..." 

"Excuse me." Professor Taru interrupted. "I thought there were fourteen types? Lightning, Water, Grass, Fire, Ground, Rock, Steel, Ghost, Poison, Dark, Psychic, Bug, Fighting, Dragon, Flying, and Ice?" 

"You forgot Normal." May said. 

"Normal? But, why would we want to create a normal hybrid?" 

"A normal hybrid is more likely to come out looking human." Ferina answered. "Plus, imagine if we could create a human with the abilities of a Ditto?" 

"Or the erratic genetic structure of an eevee?" Nerina added. 

"Oh..." Taru said. "I think I'd like to take on the normal project then." 

"Perfect! I was hoping you would. Actually, me and Nerina already drew a layout for the various groups..." 

"You two had this all planned, didn't you?" May asked. 

The twenty-eight year old twins grinned. "Of course." They both answered. 

-------- 

And so Project H/C was started. It involved, in the beginning, just pokemon and a small number of adult test subjects who were willing to have pokemon DNA added to them. However, as the experiment progressed, it became necessary to draft healthy and willing pregnant women in the early stages of pregnancy to have their embryo's experimented on. However, they did not achieve their needed goal until twenty-six years after that fateful world conference, at the twenty-fifth Project H/C meeting in December... 

-------- 

"So Professor Mikoto, you claim you've achieved success?" One of the other professors asked, looking at Mikoto's notes. 

"Claim? I _have_ achieved success." He turned to one of his assistants. "Donna! Go bring Project H/C, Type #15:CXIII!" 

The assistant nodded, and left the room, returning later with a bundle in her arms and handing it to Professor Mikoto. 

"Behold! Attempt number one hundred and thirteen!" He showed them the baby. The roman numerals 'CXIII' were tattooed in his right shoulder. His right _furry_ shoulder. "He is _our_ perfect soldier!" 

"You succeeded in your attempts to create a dark type pokemon/human crossbreed? But... that was the experiment we thought would be the hardest! How did you manage it?" 

The Professor smiled, an evil little smile. "When you understand the type better, success is easy." And he proceeded to lecture them on where they had been going wrong, why so many of the babies either turned out normal, deformed, or died. 

"But, yours is deformed." One of the professors complained. 

"Deformed? So he has fur and ears similar to those of a persian. So he has a tail, and glowing green eyes. But he is healthy, and he has the DNA of dark type pokemon, and a human, and should be able to learn the attacks of those pokemon. He also has the mind of a normal human, with some bonuses, and his senses are extraordinary! What about him is deformed? He's as perfect as a two month old baby can be!" 

No one answered. 

"Here, copies of our files. We duplicated them, one copy for each project. Although we have succeeded with him, it cannot be guaranteed that our base shall not be infiltrated, and him destroyed. For all we know, this may be our last meeting." He handed out four compact disks to each of the leading professors. "I believe this annual meeting is over. We've been here long enough." 

And so they left. Unknown to Professor Mikoto at that time, however, was that that _was_ going to be their last annual meeting... 

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): This is a tale of Sacrifice_

-------  
June, the next year (six months later) Professor Mikoto's base - 2078  
------- 

Bullets flew and found their marks in the soft, mortal flesh of humans and pokemon alike, bombs exploded, tests tubes, computers, and walls all destroyed along with the lives of many. The hidden underground lab in Jerae city had been infiltrated, and the chances of anyone surviving were dim. 

"Tahari...! Take the baby... and the...files..." A young assistant handed him a smallish bundle, and four compact disks. "You... must... live. We will... hold them back... GO!" She coughed up some blood, clutching the wound in her side, but holding her gun fiercely in the other hand. "GO! The project must live on! We can't let all our hard work go to waste! For all we know the other experiments have failed." 

"But... I can't leave you Donna!" His green eyes were wide with fear, but also admiration for the young lady that stood before him. "I, I love you!" He blurted out. 

She smiled despite the pain. "I love you too Tahari, but I love my country. I love the world. What are a few lives compared to millions? GO! I command you to go! If you love me, you'll leave me..." 

"That's foolish logic..." He looked at the baby, then shifted it and the disks to one side. "I'm taking you with me." Then, despite her feeble protests, he slid his free arm around her waist and began to drag her through the rubble. 

"You're just ... going to slow... yourself... down! We'll get caught!" She coughed, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. 

"Shut up and stay still, there's an exit nearby." 

"Charizard! Char zard, Chari!" 

"Flame! I'm glad to see you alive! Is Professor Mikoto still alive?" 

"Ri..." The Charizard shook her head sadly, then pointed to an emergency elevator exit, and shoved the young professor and the assistant towards it. "Char!" 

"No! You're coming too!" Why was everyone so eager to die today? How could one be so dedicated to something? 

"Ri." The large pokemon said again, then she opened the door and pushed the two into it. "Charizard..." (Good bye...) She whispered, prepared to fight to her death if only those three would live. Then her eyes fell on a cylinder of gasoline. Using her great claws, she ripped it open and took a deep breath. A bullet tore through her shoulder, but she ignored it, and used a flamethrower on the gasoline. 

The lab exploded, and the many professors and assistants died. But Project H/C, Type #15: CXIII, lived on, and there was still hope. 

---------- 

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): This is a tale of Love._

---------  
Two weeks later, a hotel suite  
--------- 

A little baby sat quietly on the floor of a hotel room looking with a frustrated glare at the toy his surrogate father had given him. Where was the end of it? It was too complicated for his baby mind, but he could sit for hours just looking at it. Finally, he dropped it crawled over to where Tahari was sitting, sitting down infront of him and then tugging on his leg. 

"Hey there CXIII, you okay?" The young man rubbed his eyes and got up, looking at the baby. "I'll go get you something to eat." He picked the baby up, placed him in his crib, and left to go find him something easy to fix. 

"Tahari, we can't keep calling him 'CXIII'. He needs a name." Donna complained from inside the tiny kitchen. She had tied her black hair into a high ponytail so it wouldn't keep getting in her way. 

Tahari shrugged. "I don't know what to call him. He was the one hundredth and thirteenth attempt at the experiment... And that's what's tattooed on his shoulder. They never named him, he was always referred to as 'Project H/C, Type #15: CXIII'." 

"Project hybrid/crossbred..." She limped over to him. After the attack on the lab, she'd never fully regained use of her right leg. "Well, he needs a name." 

"What do you name a baby like him?" 

For CXIII was no ordinary baby. He was covered in black fur, and his eyes were an eerie light green. He had persian-like ears, and a little stubby tail. His hands were similar to paws, except he had two opposable thumbs, and eight fingers, like a normal human. He had all his teeth already too. 

"What about Hyde?" Donna suggested, walking over to his crib and handing him a baby bottle she had just warmed. 

"Reminds me of 'Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'." 

"What about Dhari? A cross between Donna and Tahari?" 

Tahari frowned, looking at the younger girl strangely. "He's not our son..." 

"Tonari?" 

"Donna." 

"Donar?" 

"Donna!" 

"Or maybe Tahon?" 

"Donna! We're not naming him after us!" 

"Why not? And besides, you can't come up with a name yourself!" She folded her arms across her chest and stuck her tongue out at him. 

An orange head peeked in from the bedroom, followed by a slightly chubby body that waddled in. "Charmander? Charman mander char?" 

"You want to name him after your mother, Sacrif?" Tahari asked, confused. Flame was hardly an appropriate name for CXIII. 

The charmander shook its head. "Mander!" 

"Oh! You want to name him in honor of your mother." Donna deduced, having a better understanding of the charmander. 

"Char." 

The young charmander, 'Sacrifice' had been with them since that fateful day. They had discovered his egg had been discovered in the rubble under the body of his brave mother who had given her life to let Tahari, Donna and CXIII escape, and to destroy the lab along with their attackers, when they had gone back to check for survivors. 

"So, what name do you want us to give him?" Tahari glanced at the charmander curiously. 

"Char." The Charmander asked them to wait, then stumbled off to go get a book that Donna had been reading to him every night. He picked the book up in his mouth then gave it to Donna. "Charmander, char man derchar man char." He described the character to her. 

She giggled. "He wants us to name the baby 'Shadow Seikou'." 

"Shadow Seikou?" 

She nodded, a silly grin on her face. "Haven't you read the book before? It's a popular legend. Seikou is a soldier loves and treasures life, but not his own. He goes through a lot in the story, and in the end, he gives up his position and finds true love, and even manages to learn to respect himself a little. Of course, I'm reading the abridged version to Sacrif." She shrugged, still grinning. "I guess it'll do... He is going to grow up to be a soldier anyway." 

"Fine." Tahari walked over to the computer and opened up the baby's file. "His new alias is Project H/C, Type #15: CXIII - Shadow Seikou." 

Sighing, Donna sat down near Tahari, and stared intently at the nineteen year old with her brown eyes. "You know, we can't raise him on our own. We need to find somewhere to bring him up... Besides, neither of us have the kind of training necessary to bring him up as a 'perfect soldier'." 

He nodded. "That's true... Professor Mikoto had big plans for him. We were just assistants, working on more of the medical side." 

"We need to find some people who might have known about the experiments, but we've lost contact with the other groups..." 

"I may be able to help you there." A voice said from behind, causing the two to freeze in shock 

"Professor Mikoto!" They both exclaimed. 

"How did you get out?" Donna asked. 

"I was prepared for such an attack. I was able to escape with a few of us, but less than half of the team has survived..." He shrugged. "They died for a worthy cause." 

Tahari looked at Donna through the corner of his eye. She had almost died too... He couldn't bear to think of what he would have done without her for the past two weeks... He couldn't even imagine what life without her would be like." 

"Where is CXIII?" 

"Over there." Donna said, pointing at him. "And we've...we've named him Shadow Seikou." 

"Shadow Seikou?" The professor repeated, going over to the crib and picking the baby up. "Shadow... perfect name for once such as him." He looked him over, checking him for bruises or anything irregular. "Perfectly healthy." He looked at the young couple. "We must hurry up and leave before we are found." He was about to go when he saw that charmander. "Where'd you get him?" 

"He's Flame's son." 

"Flame's...son?" The professor asked, going over to the Charmander then crouching beside it so he could be closer to its level. "Nice to meet you little one. I knew your mother." 

"Mander?" 

He nodded, patting it on the head. "Good boy." Then he got up. "Hurry up and pack what you need, and only what you need." He left the hotel room quickly with the baby bundled up in a blanket he had brought with him. 

"I guess our problem is solved..." Donna said, getting up from her chair and was about to go and pack when Tahari grabbed her arm and stopped her. 

"Donna..." He said, letting go of her arm and picking up her hand instead. "I..." 

"You what, Tahari?" She asked with a sly smile on her face. 

"I love you." 

"Was that so hard to say? You said it well enough when you dragged me out of the lab." The eighteen year old replied. "I love you too Tahari Tavis." She whispered, standing on her toes and lightly kissing him on the lips. "Now let's pack." 

"Hey...!" 

She giggled, letting go of his hand. "Learn patience Tahari, patience is a virtue-" 

"Which I don't have." He interrupted. 

"Well learn it." And she picked up Sacrifice and went off to pack quickly. 

Tahari sighed, and followed her example. Though he could not let go of the warm feeling that had rushed through his body when she had kissed him... 

------  
The next day  
------ 

They had traveled with the professor and the other survivors on a train to the town their new hideout was in. To avoid suspicion, they were separated into groups. The professor played the part of an old man taking a new baby pokemon, Shadow, to his grandson, a pokemon trainer. Donna and Tahari were a young couple, both pokemon trainers, on their way to visit their parents and show off their new charmander. The others varied from married couples, to washed up pokemon trainers. 

Thankfully, they all made it to the hideout safely, grateful that nothing had happened. The new lab was spacious, much larger than the previous one, which was unfortunate as they had less than half the number of people in the previous team. It would take some time to recruit a full team. 

When they had all entered, Professor Mikoto called everyone's attention to him. "Gather round, we need to have a group meeting before we settle in. First of all, you have two choices. The first is that you live down here, with little or no contact with the outside world. The second is that you lead two lives, one up there, and the other down here, at night. The choice is up to you, but please make wise decisions." He gave them some time to talk it over with each other before ordering them to be quiet again. "Now, I will be recruiting a few more people for the team. Allthough we have achieved success in the first experiment, CXIII, we are not done. First of all, there's the whole process of raising him that we will have to go through. And secondly, we can't expect one boy to save us all. We'll need more than just one hybrid on his own." 

"You mean things like, stronger, smarter pokemon? And mechanical things?" One of the assistants asked. 

"Exactly! And we'll need a large team for that. It'll take many years to complete them, and even more to teach him how to use them. But a perfect soldier must be perfect in all ways. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. It's going to be hard, but we _will_ prevail!" There was a moment of silence, and then Shadow started to wake up. "That is all for now, you are dismissed." He began to walk off, but then the baby started crying. "Donna, Tahari, he seems to like you two. You shall be in charge of being his surrogate parents." 

They looked at each other in surprise. "You trust us to be his parental figures?" Donna asked, incredulous. 

"Yes, I do. Do you have a problem with that? All I ask is that especially in the first six or so years of his life, you spend time with him so he has some idea of family life. It is essential to his upbringing that he learns something about love." And as he so often did, Mikoto left as soon as he was done talking, depositing Shadow in Donna's arms before swiftly leaving. 

He quieted down immediately as soon as he saw her face, and rewarded her with one of his rare smiles. She giggled, cradling him in her arms. "Meet our first son, Tahari." 

Tahari froze, looking at the furry baby in shock. Shadow smiled at him too, his green eyes sparkling happily. "Son...?" He asked. 

"What is it with men and babies?" Donna asked Shadow. "They always go into a state of shock the moment women mention them." She looked sternly at Tahari. "If you keep acting like that about babies, it's going to be a while before we can have a real child of our own." 

"Child...of...our own? We're not even twenty yet!" 

Donna sighed, shifting the baby to one arm and grabbing Tahari's hand with the free one. "Common, let's go find our new living quarters." And she proceeded to drag him throughout the hideout, their new home. 

-------  
Two years and some months later, December-2079  
------- 

"Donna, I'm back!" Tahari announced, entering the room cheerfully, and carrying several bags with him. "Why didn't want to come? You always jump at a chance to leave the hideout and go out into the upper-world!" 

Donna winced. She knew she'd have to tell Tahari soon, but she just didn't know when. She'd only found out a few days ago... 

He put the bags down, puzzled, and hurried over to her when she didn't answer. "Are you sick?" 

She shook her head. 

"Is Shadow sick?" 

She shook her head again. 

"Then what's wrong? You've been acting like you're hiding something from me for the longest time!" He sat down on the armrest of the chair she was sitting in. 

"Tahari, I need to tell you, I'm-" 

He cut her off. "Hold on, and close you eyes." 

"But-" 

"No buts, just wait." And he ran out of the room to get something, then ran back in. "Open." 

She opened her eyes, and gasped at what she saw. Tahari was on his knees infront of her, holding a small velvet box. Sacrifice, now a charmeleon, stood beside him, holding a bouquet of red flowers. "Oh Tahari..." 

He grinned nervously, then put the box in her hands. "Open it." 

She opened it, and inside was a beautiful engagement ring, and quite likely an expensive one too. 

"Will you marry me, Donna?" He asked. 

"Tahari, do you know how long I've been waiting for you to ask?" She demanded. 

"Is that a yes?" 

"Yes!" 

He put the ring on the correct finger and then hugged her, kissing her soundly. 

"Eon!" The charmeleon interrupted, handing her the bouquet of roses. 

"Thank you Sacrifice." 

"Char." He replied with a 'grin'. 

"The roses were his idea. I wanted to give you orchids but he insisted on the red roses." Tahari explained sheepishly. 

Donna laughed, patting Sacrifice on the head. "Thank you dear." 

"Wait! One last surprise!" 

"Another one?" 

Tahari ran out, and returned with a box. "For you, my love. I know how much you love these, and me and Sacrifice are busy a lot of the time, so..." He set it down in her lap. 

She seemed puzzled, but opened the box all the same. 

"Meowth!" A little kitten pokemon popped its head out, chewing on the red ribbon around its neck. "Meow?" 

"Awww! She's so cute!" She gushed, picking the meowth out of the box and hugging her. "What's her name?" 

"That's up to you." 

Donna thought carefully. "I think I'll name her... Love." 

"Love?" 

"Yes. Love." She put the meowth in her lap and petted its head. "Tahari, I have something to tell you..." She said, not looking up from the kitten. 

"Oh yes, about why you didn't come with me, right?" 

"Yes." She picked up Tahari's hands, looking straight into his green eyes with her own innocent brown ones. "Tahari, you're going to be a father." 

"A...father..." His eyes widened in shock. "Really?" 

She nodded. 

"Yes!" He exclaimed, picking her up and hugging her, almost squashing the poor Meowth between them. "I love you Donna." He whispered to her, kissing her again. 

She sighed in relief, for she wasn't sure how he would take the news. Although they had raised Shadow as their own, she wasn't sure how he would take the news of having their own child, especially since she was only twenty, and he was only twenty-one. 

"What's all the noise?" One of the assistants asked, peeking in their room. 

"We're getting married, and I'm going to have my own baby!" Tahari grinned foolishly, looking lovingly at his fiancé. 

"Congratulations!" Kris said, winking at Tahari. "This calls for a celebration!" 

"Kris! Not another one of your parties, please..." Donna grimaced. Kris was well known for finding every possible opportunity to liven up the hideout with a party. 

"Why not? I'm going to go see if I can pester one of the above-dwellers into buying us some supplies!" And he left before the pair could say anything. 

"Charmeleon..." The fire pokemon sighed, then he looked at the meowth. "Char?" 

"Meet your new friend, Love." 

"Eon." He sniffed the meowth then smiled. "Char char meleon, char?" 

"Yeah, where *is* Shadow, Donna? Usually he's with you." 

"They've started his training now." 

"Training? But he's only three!" 

"That's what I said..." She replied with a shrug. "But Professor Mikoto believes that we must start as early as possible, and that he should have even started at two..." 

"I guess it's just us then." Tahari had to admit that he was going to miss the little kid. He was unusually quiet for his age, but could be such a joy to be with. 

"And Sacrifice and Love." She added. 

"Right. Love and Sacrifice... Ironically, I believe those names sum up the years that have passed, and the years that have yet to come..." 

Donna put one arm around Tahari's waist and laid her head on his chest. "Sad, but true..." 

--------- 

[Like the name of the fic? It came to me while I was writing that part where they were talking about it just being them now, and Donna adds 'And Sacrifice and Love.' Then it hit me; that would make a perfect title! Man, don't you just love it when these happen? Now I'm glad I named the meowth Love, or I'd still be searching for a title.] 


	2. Love and Sacrifice - Part 1

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): How can one so young, be so old?_

--------  
About two years later- January -2081  
-------- 

"Shadow? Shadow!" Tahari was worried, very worried. The little guy had been missing for an hour now, and it was time for him to go for his training sessions. 

A black ball of fur launched itself from its hiding spot on a counter onto the twenty-one year old's back, knocking him down. 

"Get off me Shadow..." He coughed, for the little boy had knocked all the air out of him, again... 

Silently, the little 'boy' got off Tahari, his green eyes holding little of the innocent playfulness other boys his age had. "When play?" He asked, speaking in his normal way of using as few words as possible. 

"Later Shadow, I need to work, and you have to go for your training." Tahari picked up the five year old. 

"When later?" 

"At five o'clock, when you're done." 

"Why five? Should be four." 

"You've been missing for an hour, so we have to add an extra hour." 

The boy only half understood, but sighed anyway. "Uncle Ta'ri, why train?" 

"Why do you have to train?" Tahari asked, frowning in deep thought for how do you tell a five year old that you're teaching them how to save the world? "Because there's going to be a war, and we need people to help protect us." 

"Me protect you?" He asked. 

Tahari nodded. "Yes." 

"Okay." 

Okay? That was it? Nothing more? Tahari was beggining to wonder just what the boy was being taught in his classes, but he and Donna were not allowed to know, they were just told to be loving parents, relatives, whatever, to him. 

"Here we are." Tahari put the little boy down. "See you at five!" He called after the little kid. 

Donna walked up, holding young Donari in her arms, and with Love, her meowth, walking behind her. "So old for one so young, isn't he? When you look into his eyes..." She trailed off, not knowing how to describe the sad, all knowing look the boy's eyes had. "He was the sweetest baby, rarely cried, so quiet... But his smiles! To see his sweet smile was the highlight of many of my days." 

"Was?" Tahari asked. 

"Was... Now, his smile is the highlight of very few of my days. I know he loves us, I can tell. He cares about us, Love, Sacrifice and Donari, but... I can't say he's changed, for he really hasn't. He's just grown old so fast." Looking at Donari's brown baby eyes, she smiled slightly. "I feel like my son has grown up and left home, why?" 

"I know what you mean Donari. I don't understand what Professor Mikoto is up to, and I don't really like it... But it's for the best, or so he says..." Tahari picked up the meowth, playfully tapping it's nose. "All we can do is love him." 

"He hasn't made any attempt to get to know any of the other children around his age that are living down here, though I can't blame him. They tease him so much... I'm only glad that we had Donari, and that we have Sacrifice and Love. We're so busy a lot of the time, at least he has some friends..." 

"And that's all that matters." Tahari finished for her. "Come on, let's go visit Sacrifice. They should be done with his tests by now." 

"Must they test him every day?" She asked. 

"Unfortunately, they seem to think it necessary, Flame being his mother and all. She was one of their best experiments. Very intelligent for a charizard." 

Donna just shook her head slightly. Why couldn't they just be a normal family? 

------- 

Inside the training room 

------- 

If one entered the training room while the discussion between Donna and Tahari was taking place, one would have been amazed at the training the young child was being put through. 

First, there was the physical aspect of the training. There was an obstacle course he was made to run through every day, and it changed constantly so he could not memorize where certain surprises were. The course tested his speed, his balance, his judgement of time and distance, his intelligence, and his how fast he reacted to the various hidden surprises in the course. 

There was also the mental aspect, in which he was taught like any other child his age. He learnt about pokemon, the world he was living in, and how to read, among other things. 

Lastly, there was the emotional aspect of the training. They wanted him to be willing to do anything for his future duty, and that would mean enforcing a strong love of life, of the world he lived in and the pokemon and humans he shared it with. They also wanted him to have a strong hate for wars, for battles. Why would one want their perfect soldier to hate fighting? Because his future goal was not to fight a war, but to bring peace. Although bringing peace may mean fighting a war, that would not be his main priority. They did not want to create a mindless killing machine. That was what had gone wrong in previous experiments of the same type. 

"Seikou, stop daydreaming!" The teacher rapped his desk, bringing the little boy out of his dream world. "What is one of the rarest pokemon?" 

"Mew." He answered. 

"Is war good or bad?" 

"War is bad, but it can bring about good things." 

"Good." There was a short pause from the teacher. "Name three electric pokemon." 

"Raichu, Jolteon and Magnemite." 

"Correct." 

This was often how his classes went. The teachers preferred to call him 'Seikou' instead of 'Shadow'. He didn't mind anyway since those were both his 'names'. He had no last name, so calling him by either was fine. 

---------  
Three years later- 2084  
--------- 

"Sei? Why are you sitting here alone?" Little Donari looked up at the boy she called her older brother. He was sitting on top of a bookshelf, and most people would normally have just walked right by him for he blended in perfectly with the darkness of the room. 

"I'm thinking." The eight-year-old replied. 

"Can I come up?" She asked innocently. 

He paused, thinking it over, then finally peered over, looking at her with his intense green eyes. "Yes." 

She grinned happily. "But I need help up." She pointed out. 

He leapt down, landing silently on his feet. "Get on my back." He instructed her. 

She immediately obeyed, her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. 

"Hold tight." He said, hoisting himself up the shelf. "You can get off now." 

She scrambled off his back, then daringly peered over the edge of the shelf. "Its high..." She whispered fearfully. Because, for a five year old, five and a half feet above the ground _is_ very high. She looked at him and smiled. For some reason, she didn't call him Shadow like his parent's did. Instead, she liked to shorten his second name to 'Sei'. "Why do you like being alone, Sei?" She asked curiously. 

He didn't turn to look at her, but instead stared ahead into the dark room. "I dunno... I just do." Was his reply. 

She scooted closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I don't like being alone... I get scared. I'm scared of the dark, but I'm not scared when I'm with you!" She gave him a hug, startling him, but he awkwardly hugged her back. "Promise me you'll never leave me, Sei?" 

"I promise." He whispered, kissing her on her forehead, then smiling slightly. 

"Thank you." She said, though one couldn't be sure if she was thanking him for the promise, the smile, or both. 

------------ 


	3. Love and Sacrifice - Part 2

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): Fear_

[I wouldn't call this part graphic, but there is some very mild violence, and some pyschological trauma.] 

-------------  
Three years later, August- 2087  
------------- 

Thirteen and a half year old Shadow Seikou watched as the people he regarded as his family, the only ones he could trust, if only a little, left for their third out of four annual visits to the 'upperworld'. They never knew what happened when they left, and he didn't tell them. Why? He didn't know, he just didn't feel like telling them... Yet at the same time, he wished with all his heart that they wouldn't go... For those eight weeks out of the whole year, he was miserable. Two weeks out of January, two out of May, three out of August, and one of December. 

As soon as they left, he slipped through the shadows to his room, locking the door behind himself. If only he didn't need to eat, he'd stay in his room till they came back, but how could he go for three weeks without food? He'd tried it before, and it took only one and a half weeks till he had to go out for food before he starved himself to death. Even if he tried just sneaking out for meals, _they_ would get him. 

He peered into his mirror, and a pair of glowing light green eyes peered back through wild strands of black hair. If it weren't for his fur, his eyes, and his ears, he'd look human... Curse his fur! That was the main thing about him he hated. The eyes he could live with, even the ears and the tail, but the fur? He looked at his hands... Or should he rather call them paws? He had fingers, and thumbs, just like humans, but instead of the nails they had, he had claws, retractable claws... His feet were the same, except they were more paw-like than feet-like. However, his paw-feet were much more quiet than the normal human feet, and also helped him land softly from high places. He growled involuntarily, and then looked at his teeth. Almost human, but with canines like that... He barred his teeth at his reflection, then carefully touched the pointy edge of one of his canines with a finger. Sharp. 

Shadow Seikou... That was his name. Donna and Tahari called him Seikou, Donari called him Sei, and the professors and everyone else called him Shadow. He treasured the name Sei the most, however, followed by Seikou, as those were the names the ones closet to him called him. 

Freak would have been a more appropriate name in his opinion though. He was a freak of nature, created in a lab by desperate scientists to fight a war that did not reall exist yet! He was shunned by his age group, and the adults who worked there treated him as nothing more than another experiment, which he was. 

A knock at the door, which he ignored, until it was followed by the sound of keys jingling together... 

Sei breathed in sharply, and his eyes grew wide. How'd they get a key to his room? Without a sound, he lowered himself to a crouching position, his tail held straight. 

The door opened, and he pounced, knocking down the man, and stunning him momentarily. Not hesitating for one second, Sei ran through the hallways of the underground hideout, hoping to find somewhere for him to hide. However, they had anticipated this, and he ran straight into one of them. Struggling with all his might, he tried to break free from the tight hold on his arms, but he was outnumbered, and the last thing he wanted to do was kill some of the people who worked in the base. That would only serve to get him into trouble. 

"Look like we caught ourselves a little umbreon." One of them sneered as they took him to the basement. 

---------- 

The basement was the lowest level in the underground hideout. It was where all sorts of things were stored, test tubes, food, spare parts, you name it. It was also the place Sei dreaded during those particular eight weeks of the year. 

"Tried to run again Shadow?" One of them asked, his dark brown eyes seeming to laugh at the boy. "There's nowhere to hide, freak. We all live here together, and we all know every single little corner. Besides, we've been doing this for what, five, six years at least? You should be used to it." 

They had him tied up tightly. His ankles were bound together, and his hands were too. He wasn't gagged, as there was no one to hear him from that isolated spot in the basement. No matter how loud he yelled, all he would achieve was a sore throat. Besides, they enjoyed hearing him scream... He growled softly, his eyes blazing. He wasn't going to scream this time. He wasn't even going to give them the pleasure of seeing him cry. No, this time was going to be different. He was going to do his best to ignore them. What kind of soldier would he be if he couldn't tolerate torture? 

The one who had spoken crouched down infront of the specimen. "Growling at us Shadow? You know that won't do you any good. Growl all you want. You might as well be purring for all I care. Can you purr Shadow? Eevees can, such a nice sound, softer than that of a persian... But then again, eevees are sweet little pokemon, and the last word I'd use to describe you is 'sweet'." He ran one hand through the young teenager's wild black hair, savoring the silky feel. "You should be a good boy, Shadow." He patted him on the head like a pet pokemon, something he knew the boy hated. "We'll hurt you less if you behave." But as he withdrew his hand, Sei sunk his teeth into it, refusing to let go until one of the others kicked him hard in the side. "Little beast!" The bitten one exclaimed, trying to stop the blood flow. "You're going to pay for that." He hissed, leaving to go get his hand treated. 

Sei, however, ignored the threats, and simply spat the blood at of his mouth. Biting the scientist, Gareth, had been a big mistake, and he knew that, but he couldn't help it. Sometimes the pokemon side of him overrided his common sense. 

"Well, that's a new one." One of them remarked. "Normally he just snaps. First time he really drew blood. Must have to do with him being a teenager now..." The man lowered himself down to Sei's level. "But we're going to see to it that you don't dare try a stunt like that again. By the time we're done with you, you'll wish you were never created." 

/I always wish I was never created... Why should now be any different?/ He thought to himself, but his train of thought was interrupted by another kick, followed by punch after punch. /I don't deserve to live... I don't want to live... But I have to live... At least, for now I do.../ Were his last conscious thoughts before he welcomed the darkness of unconsciousness where he could successfully ignore the pain his felt all over his body. 

------ 

The next morning, at least, he supposed it was morning, Sei awoke. Morning and night didn't really mean anything to him. He had never seen the sun before, never felt its warm rays. He'd only been to the upper world at night, and for only brief moments. Morning just meant the time when he was supposed to be awake, night just meant the time when he was supposed to sleep. But there was always activity in the underground hideout at all times, so he couldn't really tell the difference. He licked his dry lips, wincing as realized his lip was cut because he could taste dried blood. His whole body ached, and one of his eyes was practically swollen shut. 

He was curled up in a corner, and his hair was loose. It must have unraveled from his braid yesterday... It cascaded down his shoulders in silken locks that covered his whole body because of his current position. As he raised his head to look around, he realized there was a collar around his neck, and he was chained to the wall. Trapped. Not a feeling he was fond of, but one he knew all to well. 

"Awake are you?" 

It was the one he had bitten. Sei awarded him with a blank stare, not wanting to waste his time conveying his feelings through words. Words were meaningless, actions were everything. 

"Quiet, aren't you? Well if you don't speak, you won't eat." The man said, setting a plate down near the boy. 

He shrugged, closing his eyes, rather, his eye, nonchalantly. 

"Trying to be tough Seikou? I wonder how tough you'll be if I cut your hair short?" He threatened, taken a pair of scissors from his pocket. 

Sei's eyes flew open, and he immediately pressed his back flat against the wall. "Don't you dare..." He hissed, his eyes wide with fear. Sei knew it was foolish of him to treasure his hair so much, but it was the only thing he had that he allowed himself to get attached to. 

"Ah, finally a reaction from my brave little soldier." Gareth smirked. "Any move like what you did yesterday, and off it goes. I know how much you treasure that hair of yours." He set down the scissors. "But I don't think I'll be cutting it off, unless you give me a good reason to." Reaching out again, he gently touched the boy's cut lip. "Bite me if you dare, I'll just be rougher on you." He moved his hand to the boy's cheek, caressing it with a light touch. Suddenly, he viciously grabbed Sei by the collar, pulling him closer till the chain had reached its limits. "Nothing changes the fact that you're a freak though, and therefore don't deserve to live. You're only alive to serves us." He let go of the collar and then bakchanded Sei hard, knocking him to the floor. 

"Bastard." The hybrid whispered, the corners of his lips curling into a snarl. It took him extreme control to prevent himself from lunging at the scientist and killing him with his claws... But Sei remembered what he had promised himself in the beginning. He was [i]not[/i] going to give them the satisfaction of driving him to his limits. He was going to stay calm, endure what they did to him, as much as he hated it. Counting to ten, he picked himself up, sitting against the wall. 

"Well, isn't this wonderful? Four words from you in a span of less than five minutes?" The man's mocking gaze bore into Sei. "I can tell you're thirsty." He picked up a glass of water, holding it infront of the hybrid. "Here." He held it to Sei's lips and let the boy drink half of it before withdrawing it and setting it back down. "And I'm sure you're hungry too; you had only one meal yesterday. But I know you can go for a long time with little or no food, so we're going to play a game." He smiled evilly, an eerie sort of smile that Sei was overly familiar with. "I'm going to break your wild spirit if it's the last thing I do. By the end of our two week session, you're going to be whimpering and groveling. You will, of course, have your usual one week recovery period so your 'family' don't suspect anything, but I have a feeling this is something you'll never recover from... And that's what I'm aiming at." 

"I. Don't. Care." Sei replied, lifting his head so that the scientist could see the dead look in his eyes. "Do what you want." 

"We'll see if you still think the same way when I'm done. They go too easy on you during you're training. If you don't learn what true pain is, you'll never survive this war. You'll get captured and end up telling them everything." 

/Easy?/ Sei wondered. /He calls that going easy on me? If that guy has kids I pity them./ 

"You need to learn what it's like to be terrified. The last sessions will be nothing compared to this one." 

And did Sei learn true fear. He learnt what it was like to be stripped of his pride, and the little innocence he still held. He learnt what it was like to hurt so badly both mentally and physically that suicide would seem like the only way out. He learnt what it was like to have the things and people he loved used against him in terrible ways. What he had been through in the years before was nothing compared those next two weeks, and the years that were yet to come. But it only served to help the already emotionally unstable hybrid retreat further into his anti-social shell. 

---------------------- 


	4. Love and Sacrifice - Part 3

_ Love and Sacrifice(v3): Friends do not exist._

--------  
Three weeks later  
-------- 

Donari couldn't wait to see Sei. She'd cut her black hair to shoulder length, and she hoped Sei would like it. Plus, she'd bought him a special present. As soon as the entrance to the hideout, her home was opened, she dashed down the stairs ahead of her parents and ran to Sei's room, knocking violently. "Sei! I'm back!" 

"Hold on!" He quickly put on a T-shirt to hide the scars that had yet to heal. As soon as the fur grew back, they'd be covered, but until now, he'd have to make sure to hide them under clothes. He checked quickly in the mirror to make sure nothing showed, and then he opened the door. "Hey Donari." 

The ten year old threw her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. He winced, for he was bruised around that area, but he smiled to cover it up. "I missed you so much Sei!" 

For a moment, he just stood there, but then he lifted her and hugged her back tightly. "I missed you too Donari..." Then after a few more seconds, they let go of each other. "You cut your hair." He noticed. 

"Like it?" 

He nodded. "It's new." 

"Speaking of hair." She dug into the pockets of her jeans. "For you." She held it out, and he gently took it from her. 

"What is it?" 

"Open it!" 

He opened the box cautiously, and his eyes widened slightly when he saw what was in it. It was a hair tie for him to hold his braid, but there was a round silver thing on it that had 'CXIII' engraved in it. He opened it carefully, like a locket, and found a small picture of him, Donna, Tahari, Donari, Sacrifice and Love together. "Thank you Donari." He hugged her again, this time simply ignoring the pain. 

"You're welcome, brother." She took it from him. "Here, let me put it on for you." Looking at the braid that hung down his back, she frowned. "Hmm, you need to wash your hair..." She grabbed his braid and tugged him out of the room. "Come on, I haven't got much time before my parents will want to see you. Your hair's a mess!" 

She dragged him, by the braid, to the bathroom and made him bend backwards over the bathtub while she washed his long hair. "It's all tangled! It's as if you haven't combed your hair for weeks. If you're not going to take good care of it, what's the point of keeping all of it?" He didn't answer, but she didn't mind. He rarely spoke anyway, but she loved his quiet voice when he _did_ speak. She finished rinsing it, then towel dried it and re-braided his black hair, using the hair-tie on the tip. "There, all done." 

"Thank you again, Donari." 

"No problem! You've always been there for me, I like to return the favor every now and then. Now come on, the others want to see you!" She grabbed one of his paw-like hands and tugged him off to go see her parents. 

----- 

"Seikou!" Donna hugged the thirteen year old boy tightly. Again, he nearly winced, but he held back the pain. "I missed you." She said, sniffing slightly. "I got you some new clothes, so I want you to try them on, okay? If they don't fit, I'll get the next person who's going up to return them." 

He nodded, then turned to Tahari, who also hugged him, but more lightly than Donna and Donari. 

"It's good to see you again." He said, ruffling his hair. 

"Charmeleon!" The big fire pokemon pushed passed Tahari and hugged the boy he had known since he was born. "Char!" 

"Persian!" The smaller pokemon rubbed against Sei's leg, purring. 

"I'm happy to see you guys to." He scratched behind Love's ear and petted Sacrifice on the head. He tilted his head towards the floor so that his bangs hid his eyes. They were not going to see his eyes watering... he didn't want them to know that each night, ever since they had left, he had nearly cried. Several times he _had_ cried, and that wouldn't do. He was to be a soldier, soldiers didn't cry... 

-----  
Four months later, December  
----- 

Sei sat on his bed meticulously brushing his fur. It wasn't something he did often, but it was something he had to do every now and then so he didn't shed. Someone knocked on his door, and he quickly put a shirt on, then opened the door. 

It was Donari. "S...Sei, Daddy want's to see you." She sniffed, and the boy could tell she was holding back tears. 

"Tell him I'm coming." He replied, watching her leave before closing the door. Slightly puzzled, he hastily re-braided his hair before emerging and making his way to the room Tahari and Donna shared. He knocked, then entered. "You wanted to see me, Tahari?" He asked, worry breaking through his normally flat tone. 

The thirty-two year old man stood a short distance away from the door. He was only about a foot taller than the young boy was, but then, Sei had always been tall for his age. By some eerie chance, they both had black hair and light green eyes, which was a colour not normally found on arasians, though the shade of Sei's eyes was more pronounced, and Tahari had always kept his hair short. 

Quickly glancing around the room without moving his head, Sei noticed that it had been cleared out, and there were some suitcases and boxes on the floor... Returning his eyes to Tahari, he suddenly dropped his emotionless mask and allowed the apprehension that he felt show clearly through the expression on his face. 

"You're...leaving?" Hands clenched into fists, the hybrid looked down at the floor. He refused to look at Tahari. He was a traitor... 

"I'm sorry Seikou..." Tahari walked closer to the boy, but stopped when he heard the growl that emitted from the hybrid's throat. "Professor Mikoto wants us to take over the task of attempting to unite the rebel groups in Arasia... We're the Tavis's. People know and respect our family line. We'll try and visit every now and then though..." 

Sei looked up, but instead of looking directly at Tahari, he looked past the man. Almost as if by not looking at him, he would be able to stop the great emotional pain he felt. "Then goodbye." 

Tahari stood in shock. That was all? No hug, no 'I'll miss you'? He knotted his brow in confusion, then walked up to the boy's retreating form, laying a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong with you Shadow? Why have you started hiding from us? Sure you were never the most open person, but at least you confided in us every now and then. Why stop now?" 

Sei tensed when he felt Tahari touch him, but listened to what Tahari had to say before flinching away. Without looking back at the man he had looked up to as a father for his whole life, he spoke in a lifeless voice. "Don't touch me again. If you're leaving, then leave. I can't do anything about it, so why should I try?" The boy paused, and Tahari could has sworn her heard the boy sniff slightly. "There's nothing more for me to say to you. Just tell Donari, Donna, Love and Sacrifice that I said Goodbye. I wish you luck on your new mission. It's obvious you're not needed here anymore if they're sending you away." 

Those words hit Tahari like arrows through his heart. What had happened to Seikou? The boy he had once known would not have simply shrugged off this news. "Seikou..." He reached out for the boy again, but the dark hybrid ran out of the room, sprinting down the halls to the comfort and solitude of his room. 

Tahari watched him go, knowing there was nothing he could do. He'd go to comfort the boy, but he had to leave soon. Donari, Donna, Love and Sacrifice had already left for the airport, and if he didn't leave soon, he'd miss the flight. Sometimes he wished that he wasn't 'Tahari Tavis', great-grandson of the legendary Ferina and Nerina Tavis. But then, he might never have met Donna, had Donari, and given the opportunity to raise Shadow as his son... But now he'd just broken the bond that existed between them. It had been a fragile link of trust that they had built over the years, and now in less than ten minutes, thirteen years of work had gone down the drain. It would take a miracle for Shadow to trust him again, a real miracle... 

Dabbing his eyes with his shirt sleeve, Tahari picked up his last suitcases and left the room, heading for the exit to the base. Little did he know that a pair of green eyes sadly watched him leave. If he had looked back, he might have noticed the boy, and they might have re-united, re-establishing their 'father/son' bond. But he didn't look back, and the hybrid didn't say a word. 

-------------------------------- 

"It's not fair Mommy! It's not fair! We can't leave Sei! We need to go back!" Donari struggled in her mother's arms, throwing one of her not so rare temper tantrums. 

"Donari! I have told you before, be quiet!" Her mother shook her roughly, silencing her. "Life's not fair Donari, and you need to learn that... We are _not_ normal people. We do _not_ lead normal lives. We have heavy burdens on our shoulders, and we need to learn how to carry them. "You are Donari Tavis, and that means a lot." Donna released her daughter, then smoothed back her own brown hair nervously. Donari may not have inherited the light green eyes of the Tavis family, but she definitely looked like a Tavis, and acted like one... The little girl was as stubborn as a charizard. "I didn't want to leave Shadow any more than you, but we have no choice. His life is not to be one of a normal person. His life will be a hard one, not one that I would wish on anyone, let alone him, but it is what he is, and he cannot escape that. You need to understand that Donari." The woman picked up her daughter who had stopped yelling, but was crying silently. "Your father should be here in a few minutes. As soon as he gets here, we leave." 

"Yes Mommy..." The little girl replied, but in her mind, she continued to deny the fact that who she was, was an excuse for abandoning her 'older brother' Sei. Under no circumstance did she think it was right for one to leave someone they loved behind... 

Donari was definitely a Tavis. No doubt about it. 

--------------------------------- 

Betrayed... 

That was how Sei felt, and it was betrayal of the worst kind, the kind committed by those closest to you. This was the last straw that broke the ponyta's back. The very bit of emotional stability that the boy had once possesed had just left. In a way, one might say he was overly emotionally stable in the sense he locked everything inside, keeping himself under extreme control. Such extreme control that one could only describe the look in his eyes as 'dead'. 

Others might say that it was not complete control, and it was only a matter of time before his hidden emotions overwhelmed him, and drove him over the edge... Which did eventually happen, without teaching him anything except that he was a danger to anyone who got close to him, and causing him to hide his emotions even more. 

Betrayed by his family... 

Sei felt like his heart had been ripped out and crushed right before his eyes. He had allowed himself to love Tahari, Donna, Donari and the two pokemon, Sacrifice and Love. They had become as close as Sei would allow them, and now that he trusted them, they left him. At such a crucial part of his life, they abandoned him. He _needed_ them. He needed to love, to be loved. 

But that was being denied of him, as if his being half human, half pokemon meant that he could not be loved by either half of his parentage. 

Freak... 

That was what Gareth and the others called him, and they were right. He was a freak who didn't deserved to be love. He was not needed in this world... It was only his ability to fight that was needed, his quick reaction time and sharp mind. Not _him_. Not the... person? Could he even be called a person? No. He didn't deserve that. He was a creature, a beast. Not even a pokemon... 

He had watched Tahari go silently. Half of him wanted to call out to the man he had learnt to love as a father. The other half wanted to hide and wallow in self-pity. It wasn't hard to tell which half he obeyed. 

----- 

"Well, so you're all alone now Shadow?" 

Sei turned, one hand still on his doorknob, and looked at Professor Mikoto, but didn't answer. 

"Hmm, well, you have always been a quiet one. Pokemon of your type tend to be quiet too." The Professor walked closer to him. "Shadow, these next few years are very essential to your training. The war may be starting any year now. The Kaitan Alliance has become more aggressive, and people aren't liking it. They've completely taken over Arasia, and we still haven't been able to make contact with any other continents, excpet for Eurel. Our neighboring countries have even started building up their army reserves, recruiting young men not too much older than you, and less experienced. They've even started training pokemon for the soul purpose of killing." The professor paused, checking the reaction of the hybrid, his creation. "You have no more time to have friends Shadow. Friends do not exist anymore. There will be times when you will have to kill those you are meant to protect. Your goal is to somehow bring the Alliance down, and friends will just get in the way. They can be used against you. Remember that." And the professor walked away. 

/Friends do not exist.../ He thought to himself, standing there and watching the professor leave. /But what about family?/ 

"Shadow! You're late! How can I teach you hand-to-hand combat if you're always late for class?" His martial arts teacher... 

Sei followed the man. /Friends do not exist./ He repeated to himself again, and it seemed the professor was right. Over those next few years of training for the war, with next to no visits from his 'family', he didn't really have friends. He spent most of his time in classes, and thankfully because he was frequently under the observant eye of one professor or the other, the 'kidnapping' sessions were not as many as he'd thought they would be without Tahari or Donna looking out for him, but they were still more than he could handle. They stopped nearly a year before the war started, but by that time, he was scarred for life... 

/Sei does not exist either.../ He added as he entered his next class. /I am no longer Sei, I'm just Shadow... A fitting name for me considering I am only a shadow of what I once might have been. An emotionless shadow, one with no feelings, no cares, no worries. A perfect soldier.../ 

---------------- 

[No I will _not_ go into detail what happened to him during those sessions. I might scare of some potential readers ^_^ I'll leave it up to you to guess what happened. I may bring it into light later on in the fic, but don't count on it. Also I will not go fully into detail what he did in his training sessions. All I'll say is he learnt things like how to drive several different types of vehicles, various kinds of martial arts, how to use many different weapons, and other such things that he might need. When they said they wanted a perfect soldier, they meant it.] 


	5. Love and Sacrifice - Part 4

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): There's no such thing as an innocent youth_

----------  
Three and a quarter years later, March -2090  
--------- 

Shadow woke up at four am, the time he'd become accustomed to waking up at for some reason. He stretched for a few seconds then changed into a black turtle-neck shirt and a pair of black jeans. He had a feeling, a feeling that the war would officially starting soon, and his missions would far exceed his current ones in numbers, and in their level of difficulty. 

The Kaitan Alliance had expanded greatly over the years, and there were rumors that they were shipping more soldiers over to the other continents to 'keep an eye on them'. More like to rule over them... He could only hope the rumours were false, but he had a feeling they were true. As a matter of fact, he knew they were true. There'd been many reports of secrets bases popping up all over the world, except for 

There was a knock at the door, and he opened it, looking at the person with his dead green eyes. "Yes?" He asked. What was once a silky alto, was now a flat monotone, a dead whisper that tended to scare the h*ll out of those who were not used to hearing him. 

It was one of the newer lab assistants. He'd been recruited just under two years ago, and like most of the new ones, had never quite gotten used to Shadow and the dark aura he had, since it was rare that he saw the hybrid around. "Th..the..." 

"Take your time." Shadow said. 

The young man paused a bit to catch his breath, as he'd probably been running around the base doing errands. "Our location has somehow been discovered. We need to move immediately. Professor Mikoto told me to give you this." He handed Shadow a folder, and then left in a hurry. 

Shadow opened it. 

_Mission 081 - Infiltrate the Kaitan Alliance base I have given you the location of and kill Lt. Jakata._

An assassination? Well, that made more sense than having him single handedly take on the whole army. That was what their human and pokemon army was for. He flipped through the file, quickly taking in the information. The base was thirty-two miles away, which meant he'd have plenty of travelling to do. Night would be the best time to strike, since he blended in perfectly in the dark, and could easily slip past the guards. "Lieutenant Jakata, omae o korosu[1]... You shall die tonight." He whispered to himself, taking a good look at the picture. 

-----  
That night  
----- 

Their base, Shadow's home since he was less than a year old, had been completely evacuated. Shadow had no idea where they were going, but he knew he would find out eventually, and that was all that mattered. 

For the first time in a long time, he left the hideout, climbing up the stairs and then poking his head out. The air smelt different up in the real world. It smelt... fresh. He took a deep breath the looked around, his green eyes quickly scanning the surroundings. No one. He slinked through the shadows and found the motorcycle that had been hidden for him. He hadn't named it, but he was very familiar with it. The motorcycle had been specially made for him, specially made to conceal weapons neatly and travel silently through the night. Shadow mounted it, starting it up. Unlike other vehicles, it made next to no noise. His own sensitive ears could hear the faint purr of the engine, but the ears of all humans, and most pokemon would not be able to pick it up. 

He rode silently through the night, a dark figure with dark intentions. He wore his usual long-sleeved turtle neck shirt, and black pants, but he also had added a black hood cloak, for the main purpose of concealing his tail and ears. Over his paw-like hands he wore black gloves that had slits at the finger where his claws could emerge if needed. In a holster around his waist, a gun, complete with silencer, was hidden. 

He made it to the base within an hour and a half. It would have taken less time, but he had to leave the motorcycle two miles away and walk the rest of the distance, for there were likely to be hidden soldiers nearby. It had been, in his opinion, ridiculously easy to sneak past the guards and their pokemon. The trouble would start when it got to the more heavily guarded camp enclosure. 

Hidden behind a tree near the gate, he was once again thankful for his acute night vision. There was a tree near the wall that he could climb over, and if he was careful, he could avoid the broken glass that they had stuck on the edges of the wall to deter people from using that way to get in. He walked up the tree unsheathing his claws and taking off his cloak, then climbing up, careful not to disturb the branches or wake up anything that may be sleeping in the tree. 

Making it to the level where the wall was, he walked cautiously on one of the sturdier branches that came within three feet of the wall. If he was careful, he could jump over and land on the other side. But there were the possibilities that he would slip and fall to the ground and draw attention to himself by crashing through the tree branches or landing with a thud, or he could fall on the glass and injure himself badly. 

He'd have to just take the chance. 

Shadow lowered himself to a sort of crouching position, his bare feet ready to spring off the branch. Taking a deep breath, he leapt, clearing the wall and landing with a soft thud on his feet on the other side. It had been a difficult jump, and his landing was far from perfect, so he had to take a few seconds for his legs to recover from the shock of landing so hard. 

He scanned the area hastily. No one. Why was their security so poor that night? He slipped into the shadows and made his way to through the courtyard and to the entrance. It was wide open, and Shadow tensed, wondering if this could be a trap. 

That was when he noticed the dead body on the floor. The guard's throat had been slit cleanly, which meant that it was not a pokemon's doing. Did that mean someone else was also there to assassinate Lt. Jakata? He noted the dead growlithe lying by the body's side. Whoever it was, he was not taking any chances. Shadow sniffed the air delicately, unsure of whether the other intruder was human or pokemon by the scent. The scent was a sort of mix, very unfamiliar, and very...metallic? Maybe the other had a steel pokemon with him? 

Realizing that it was not a good idea to just be standing in the doorway, Shadow followed the scent trail through the building. Same way he would have gone... He discovered several dead bodies along the way, human and pokemon alike, all killed with a cleanly slit throat. He took his gun from his holster and clicked the safety lock off. 

He found the Lt.'s room, and discovered the door locked. So the other had not made it there yet... He _had_ lost the scent trail a while back though. Did that mean he had passed the other intruder on his way, or had the other simply gone to do something else? Not bothering with that, he walked up to the Lt., aiming the gun at the man's heart, and about to shoot him when his ears picked up some slight movement near the door. 

"Who are you?" 

Shadow spun around, gun aimed at the speaker. But when he saw the other, he frowned. Was this person a hybrid too? He had metallic grey eyes, like liquid mercury, and his greyish/platinum blonde hair was very wiry. His skin had an unhealthy grey tinge, and his hands... He had six digits on each instead of five, and the sixth on each was a thin sharp blade. Judging by the blood staining them, they how he had slit those throats so cleanly. His nails too, they were metal, and sharpened, also bloody, though the boy had obviously attempted to wipe them off earlier. Shadow noted all of that in a few quick seconds, not lowering his gun. Fellow hybrid or not, this other person could be an enemy. Taking a second good look, he realized the other was nothing more than a boy, probably only fourteen or fifteen. "You're only a boy." He stated in his quiet voice. 

The other appeared slightly offended, but didn't seem to lower his guard. He merely looked into Shadow's emotionless green eyes and shrugged. "I don't think you're much older, Project H/C, Type #15: CXIII." 

Shadow narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. So the boy knew about him... "What are you doing here?" He asked. 

"Same as you. I was here to kill Lieutenant Jakata, and I happened to find you." 

/Same mission.../ He thought to himself, taking a quick look around the room. There was a window just five feet away from him, and he was only on the tenth floor. He could make the jump. 

Suddenly, Lt. Jakata stirred, sitting up sleepily, noticing the two boys and sounding an alarm 

Without a word, in one fluid movement, Shadow ran up to the window, opened it, and leapt out, twisting himself in the way a persian does mid-air so he would land safely, which he did, minus a few bruises and maybe a broken or fractured bone. But he ignored it, and quickly fled the base, leaving the other hybrid to deal with the Lt. 

After assassinating Jakata, the other leaned over the window in amazement. How had that older boy survived that jump? He had executed it with such grace... He blinked several times, wondering if he was dreaming, but the blood on his blades and the dead body lying on the bed not to far from where he stood told him that he was not, and that he'd better get the h*ll out of that base before someone answered the alarm. 

As he fled the base, he wondered what the other looked like when in light. All he had really noticed where the hybrid's long black braided hair, the black fur, and his eyes... Glowing green eyes with a fierce, yet dead glare that seemed to burn right through your skull. There was no doubt about it, that _had_ to be Project H/C, Type #15: CXIII... How could one mistake him for any type other than a dark type? How could nothing but a dark type project such an aura of... the only word Blade could thing of was 'nothingness'. Even psychic pokemon, or human's with psychic abilities, could not close up their feelings that well. 

Walking the one and a half miles to the roadside where a car would be waiting for him, Blade Keisuke, Project H/C, Type #14: 92 dared to wonder whether there were more of them, more hybrids like him, and the dark stranger he had met just minutes ago. They had always assumed the other experiments except CXIII had failed, but maybe, just maybe, they had been wrong. 

----  
Elsewhere in the world  
----  
Corse  
---- 

"Evacuate the base! Fire! FIRE!" 

The secret Kaitan base in the peaceful town of Kinsville was going down in flames. Screams of agony could be heard as soldiers burnt to death, trapped in the rooms. 

Nearby, a young teenager sighed, collapsing with exhaustion. He'd never even _attempted_ to set something that big on fire before. He ran a tired, and lightly furred hand through his wild red hair, his red eyes shining brightly. Having caught his breath, Xeth Thonas got up and ran, his flaming tail trailing behind him. He admitted that melting the locks shut to the doors of the building was a bit cruel, but it was necessary... 

Forcing a smile, he continued on his escape. He'd be safely out of the country and on his way to Arasia the next day. Corse held too many painful memories for him... 

------  
Indeli  
------ 

In a small town called Merina, a young girl was doing just the opposite, putting out a fire caused by the Kaitan Alliance. Dressed in a dark blue hooded cloak, she entered homes, dousing the flames with various water attacks, and helping the occupants to evacuate. 

But before anyone could ask her what her name was, Corvet had left, hoping no one had noticed her light blue hair, the bluish tint to her skin, or her webbed hands... 

------  
Arasia  
------ 

"Intruder? Where? The radar's not picking up anything outsi-" The man was cut off after being hit in the back. 

"Too easy..." The boy who had attacked him muttered to himself. "Much too easy, even for a fighting type hybrid..." He'd snuck into the base, knocking out anyone he came across, swiftly killing those who saw him. Quickly, Kenji got the information he had come for from the computer and slipped out of the base, his orange eyes keeping a sharp look out for any soldiers who happened to be awake at that late hour. 

------  
Jarlis  
------ 

A black clad figure slipped into the kitchen of the Kaitan base in Jiras. He found their water supply and quickly poisoned it, and as an after-thought, poisoned their food supply too. His red, black and yellow eyes glinted mischievously as he peeked out of the kitchen, slipping out quickly and leaving the way he had snuck in. His hood had slipped off, revealing his hair, the same color as his eyes. So as not to draw any attention to himself, he quickly put it back on and disappeared into the night. 

-----  
Corse  
----- 

An extremely normal looking boy stepped out of the woods and up to the house where a Kaitan official was currently residing in while he negotiated with the head of the country of Calmir. Whistling a merry tune, his brown eyes twinkled and his casually walked up to the guard, running a hand through his brown hair. Without a word, he turned into an alakazam and used confusion on the man, thankful that the attack worked just as well on humans as it did on pokemon. He turned back into a human. "If you could please tell me where his excellency John Kana is staying?" 

"On the twenty-second floor, I think..." The man replied, looking around in confusion. 

Devin, sighed, that was always the drawback to the attack, it confused the guards, but they were never sure about their answers, and were often wrong. Sighing, he transformed into a pidgey and flew over to the building, checking in all of the windows for the man he was supposed to kill. After checking many rooms, he finally found his target on the twenty-[i]third[/i] floor. He burst in through the window, transformed into a fearow, snatched the sleeping man in the claws, flew out, and dropped the man, then turning back into a pidgey and flying back to his hideout. 

------ 

Grinning to himself, a pale, transparent figure glided through one of the Kaitan bases leisurely, completely unnoticed for no one could see him. Tevax found it amazing how lax their security was. If he could get through, anyone could easily have sent their ghost pokemon in. 

He quickly found the files he needed and this time he did his best to make sure he didn't see anyone. Wouldn't you be suspicious if you saw a bunch of files floating in the air on their own? 

------  
Indeli  
------ 

Posing as a fortune teller at a fair, Siana looked around with her wise, golden eyes. Completely golden eyes, no difference between the pupils, the iris, or the cornea. Her platinum-blonde hair was hidden behind the hood of the brown gypsy cloak she wore. 

A man entered, the general she was supposed to kill. This was going to be easy. 

"You would like to hear your future?" She asked in her mysterious voice. 

"Yes." He put some coins in the plate on the table and at down. 

"Stare into my crystal ball." 

He obeyed, and the ball started glowing. Siana smiled evilly, and suddenly, a light burst forth from the ball and hit him, killing him instantly. She checked to make sure he was dead, then sighed. "Humans... one tiny psybeam and that's it." She teleported out of the tent before anyone wondered what was taking the general so long. 

------  
Eurel  
------ 

"Eric? Eric? Where are y-" The man let out a straggled cry as something slipped around his next and swiftly broke it. 

Vair withdrew her vines, looking down disgustedly at the bodies. "Kaitan pigs..." Then she sighed. "I hope you didn't have any loved ones who'll be saddened by your death though." She held tightly onto the diskette she had stolen and was about to leave the base when she noticed someone else retreating. She quickly used a vine to wrap around the other person's legs, knocking him or her down. Then she tied up the person's arms and ran up to her captive. "Who," She noticed the fluffy white tail, the icy blue hair, the thin covering of white hair with a bluish tinge, "or rather, what are you? Another hybrid? I thought I was the only one left." 

"Well you thought wrong." The girl answered coldy. "Mind letting go of me?" She snapped. "I'm on your side." 

Vair rolled her eyes but released the girl, who got up and dusted herself off. "Now if you don't mind, I've got to go. My name's Aita Aisu incase you wanted to know though." She looked at her watch. "Sh*t! I'm late!" And she ran off. 

Vair watched her go and then sighed. "People these days... So rude." 

------- 

An unknown figure flew over a Kaitan base near a town called Vilit. He flew for some time, before he found what he was looking or, a meeting between some of the Kaitan generals. He turned on his recorder and landed silently on the ground nearby and folding his wings behind his back. He stuck the recording device on a tree next to the generals, and then flew off. He'd come back and get the recording later. 

Swift flew, enjoying the feeling of the wind blowing through his feathers. Flying was fun, almost therapeutic to him. In his opinion, the ability to fly was worth being a freak. 

-------  
Jarlis  
------- 

Hali buzzed over the soldier's camp. Her task was simple. Put the soldiers to sleep, or paralyze them, whichever would last longer, and then retreat, let the rebels take care of the rest. Blinking her large compound eyes, she took a deep breath and then flew over the camp, using a combo of sleeping powder and stun spore. When she was sure she was done, she flew back over to where the soldiers where and gave them the signal. Sometimes she complained that it was not fair that they did not let her do any serious fighting, but she admitted that she was no scyther, and that she was more useful for her powder attacks. 

------  
Arasia  
------ 

A blonde and brown hair youth reached the main power supply of one of the smaller bases in Arasia. Rubbing his hands together, he reached in and snapped the wires with his bare hands, the electricity in the whole weapon factory immediately going out. 

"Rai!" 

He looked at the Raichu, then picked up the quantum bomb the electric mouse was holding nervously. With careful precision, he began to set the bomb and placed it where he decided it would have the most impact on the building. 

"Chu!" The raichu looked around, making sure no one was coming. "Raichu, chu!" 

He finished setting the bomb then picked up the raichu. "Let's go." The spiky haired youth, named Indenki began to take his carefully planned route out of the building. This mission was too easy, not the kind he preferred, but it wasn't time yet for any big attacks. For now, they would resist in small attacks, let the Kaitan Alliance know that people were starting to rebel against them. 

-----  
Corse  
----- 

Merideth, however, was having a pretty relaxing night. All she had to do was hack into their computer files from her comfortable spot in her 'home base'. She smiled as she finally got through and deleted all the necessary files, changing some of the information in others. 

Finally done, she kicked back and smiled to herself. She knew that all her missions would not be so easy, but for now, she was going to relax. The blue haired girl turned into a smallish sized dragon-pokemon like creature and flew off, going to the kitchen for a midnight snack. 

"Hey Mer! We gonna sing karaoke tonight?" One of the younger lab assistants, only eighteen, asked her as she flew past. 

She stood, turning back into a human and grinned. "Max, since when did I pass an offer of karaoke? I'll meet you in the social room in twenty minutes!" She twirled around, flicking her hair over her shoulder with a dainty toss of her head, and hurrying over to the kitchen. 

------  
Farica  
------ 

Erian appearead from a hole in the ground, a smirk on her brown furred face. She hauled herself out, then helped the sandslash that had gone with her to get out. "Who knew digging could be such fun?" She asked her human partners, dusting the dirt off herself, then shaking like a wet growlithe, sending clumps of dirt flying. 

"Erian, did you get the files?" One of them asked nervously. 

"Yup, right here!" She patted her backpack. Now she started brushing dirt out of her hair. "I need a bath..." She finally decided. Although she hated water, she knew it really wasn't good manners to walk around covered in dirt. "So do you." She told the sandslash, who snorted. "Well, Mission 001 completed! Shall we go celebrate?" 

One of her partners grabbed her arm and dragged her off. "Bath first." He said firmly, ignoring her pout. 

--------------- 

Jorvis looked at the detonater in his hand, then at the base he was about to destroy. He didn't like the idea of commiting a mass murder. Sure he had killed before, but not in such large numbers... 

But then, these 'soldiers' had raided the nearby towns, these 'soldiers' had killed many of the people he had known in cold blood, laughing when they had begged for mercy. These 'soldiers' deserved to die like this. They deserved to die dis-honorable deaths, killed in their sleep, not given a chance to fight back. 

His grey eyes hardened, and Jorvis pushed the button, blowing up the base in three loud explosions. A look of grim satisfaction crossed his face as he watched the burning remains of the base, the ones who had planned on taking over his region now dead. 

------------------------------- 


	6. Love and Sacrifice - Part 5

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): What's in a name?_

-----  
That same night  
----- 

Shadow looked around, checking to make sure he was still alone. He stood up and stretched, then decided to scan the area he was in, see what it was like. But first, there was something he wanted to do... Un-sheathing his claws, he climbed up the nearest tree, going to the very top, then looking up. 

The sky... To someone who had spent their whole life underground, the sky was a wonderful, yet scary thing. When you're used to having something over your head all the time, the idea of there being so much _space_ above you is hard to comprehend. So vast, so unending... It was too much for him, so he finally climbed down the tree, returning to his motorcycle. 

The little computer screen attached to his motorcycle was flashing. He tapped the screen gently with one finger and a coded message appeared. He typed in a series of passwords in the little keyboard that was attached to the screen by a small chain, and then the message cleared. 

_Mission 082- Search for the others and find out whether they are on our side or not. In total, there are sixteen others. If they prove to be un-trustworthy, kill them immediately. Do not let anyone see you. If someone sees you, you must eliminate them. If it is impossible for you to kill them, self destruct. _

We have moved into the next country. This one is too dangerous. We will reveal our location to you as soon as you are out of Havail. Right now, it is too dangerous to send you anything important, our messages may be intercepted. 

So he was to stay hidden till he got out of the country, and try and find the others too? From what he knew, the others were all in different countries. Different continents. 

But not the steel type... That boy, why had he not been afraid? So bold, or rather, so trusting? And those eyes... They reminded him of Donari's eyes. Different color maybe, but both had that innocent, trust every one look to them, but with that slight, wary look. As if even though they trusted you, they knew that they really shouldn't. 

He shook his head, clearing those thoughts from his mind. He had work to do... He had to leave this country, and find the others. Right now, that steel one was his best bet. However, Shadow did not like the idea of travelling in the day time. He would be seen to easily. A figure clad in black is hard to see at night, but in the day? On would stick out like an persian with a group of umbreons. It would be best for him to do his travelling now. For one, the dead body of Lt. Jakata had probably been found by now, and they would most likely send out their growlithe squads to track him and the other down. But he'd have to risk going back to pick up the trail of the other hybrid. 

He re-loaded his gun, then got back on his motorcycle. This time, he was not leaving it behind, for he would need speed if they tried to chase him. He revved up the engine [that's how it's said, right?] and rode silently up to the base. Going around it in a wide circle, trying to find the boy's trail. 

It did not take him long however, and he found that the trail lead to a road. /Damnit, now how can I follow his trail if he got in a car?/ He frowned, then returned to his motorcycle, bringing up a map of the area. /I am here...And the to the east, the road leads to a heavily populated area, yet to the west, there is a large stretch of empty land... That is the way he went./ He got back on the bike and followed the road, hiding in the trees that lined it's sides. He guessed he was not too far behind them for the metallic smell of a car was still very fresh. He rode on for several miles, when something about the area he was in bothered him. He looked around, concentrated on what he could hear. No pokemon... He should be able to hear rattatas and other nocturnal pokemon, especially some dark types. But he couldn't hear any. 

Shadow dismounted cautiously, looking around. No signs of any wild pokemon nearby... This had to be the place where they had their underground base. He took out his gun. There was no telling whether they would attack him, or not, but he the former option was the more likely. 

He heard a small sound behind him and turned. There was definitely someone there; he could smell the person, a pure human. Before he could do anything, he was shot, but he managed to dodge it. Whoever had shot at him had a bad aim. Shadow unclicked the safety lock and looked directly at where the shot had come from. He picked up the camouflaged form of a human and fired. It wasn't a fatal shot, but if the person was right handed, they wouldn't be able to fire any more. Another shot whizzed by his head, tearing through his hood but not touching any actual part of his body. There was no doubt that the one shooting him were humans... He whizzed around, found the other, and shot him too. However, right after shooting the other, someone shot him in his right arm, and another leapt from behind. He struggled, but after being shot in the he arm, and jumping from a window several stories up, he was not able to break free. 

----------  
The next morning, Blade's underground base infirmary  
---------- 

Blade looked at the slightly older boy lying in the bed. How had he gotten all the way to where their base was in the condition he was in? He had badly fractured his left leg, and there was a crack in the bone of his right leg. He had many bruises all over, and the soles of his feet were in bad condition. He shouldn't have been able to even walk! 

The other boy's eyes started to open, and he looked around, slightly disorientated. Sitting up immediately, he looked around at his surroundings. Then he spotted Blade and he frowned, looking suspiciously at him. "Where am I?" He asked. 

Blade had to admit that the other boy's voice was 'creepy' to say the last. It was like a whisper, a dead, emotionless whisper... What could have happened to someone to make them like that? In the short time he had known the furred hybrid, he hadn't seen him display any real emotions. Even when they met at the Kaitan base, the only hit of surprise CXIII had shown was blinking once. That was it. Not even a flicker of surprise flashed across his green eyes. Those eyes... They were another thing. Like he had thought before, their cold glare seemed to burn right through your skull, as if he could see everything about you, as if there was no use hiding anything from him. "You're at our base." He replied, his mercury eyes wide and curious. 

"You're too trusting." The other boy simply relplied, about to step out of bed when Blade gently placed a hand on his uninjured arm to stop him. 

"You shouldn't be walking around." Blade said, his concern showing plainly on his face. 

The other hybrid didn't reply, but simply looked at Blade's arm and tensed up. "Don't touch me." He hissed, jerking his arm out of Blade's grip. "And I'm fine." He got out of bed, looking down at the cast on his left leg. He snorted softly, and then noticed the various bandages and such all over him. And his right arm... He wouldn't be able to do much with it for a few days. But he wanted the cast off, and he wanted it off *now*. It interfered with his movements. 

"You're not going to take the cast off, are you?" 

No answer. 

"What's your name?" 

He turned to look at the boy, locking eyes for a moment. "I have no name." He replied, which to him, was true. He had no name... Names meant nothing. Project C/H, Type #15: CXIII - Shadow Seikou. That meant nothing to him, merely something people referred to him by for their own convenience. "But if you must call me something, it's Shadow.[2]" And he left the room, going in search of something to cut the cast off with. It was new, and shouldn't be too hard to get rid of. 

"Shadow..." Blade repeated to himself. "Perfect name for one like him, so quiet, and so graceful, even more so than a persian." 

"Talking to yourself again, Keisuke?" One of the rebels that Shadow had happened to shoot asked. 

"There's nothing wrong with that." He retorted, blushing slightly at having forgotten that there were others in the infirmary. 

"Yeah, well, that kid's got a good aim. Hit me in the wrist... Couldn't have been luck, George got shot in his wrist too." 

"I told you not to shoot at him." The boy replied, smiling slightly at the older man. "I'm going to sharpen my blades, the edges are dull." 

"Dull? I've never seen a blade cut a man's throat so cleanly and you say they're dull?" The man sighed, and lay back in his bed for Keisuke had gone. 

-------- 

His eyes wandered down to Blade's sixth 'digits'. If they had slit those throats so cleanly[3] then they could easily cut his cast off. Shadow simply nodded. 

"I'll need you to lie though, let's go back into the infirmary." He lead Blade back in and instructed him to lie down still on the bed. Carefully, he slit the cast on one side, then went over to the other and slit that side. The blades went cleanly through the plaster as easily as a hot knife through butter. 

Shadow looked around. The base was quite similar to his, yet very different at the same time. The layout seemed very similar, but the atmosphere in this base seemed more... friendly. The lights were brighter, the whole hideout was roomier... Something he was very unused to. 

However, he still got the sideways glances from people, as if any moment now they expected him to pull a gun on them or something equally sinister. But Shadow wasn't going to kill them, unless they turned out to be his enemies, or would get in his way... 

He couldn't find anything sharp enough to cut the damn cast off though. He wandered back through the hall way where the infirmary was. 

"Hey!" 

That boy again... Shadow turned around, his eyes seeming to ask 'What?' 

"I can cut the cast off for you." 

"Thank you." The other boy replied, examining his leg. 

"What are you going to do with it?" 

Shadow just looked at him with what Blade interpreted as a 'Don't bother me and go away' look. 

The steel hybrid sighed and got up. "I know you're going to be leaving soon, and I won't try to stop you. You probably have a mission somewhere else." He reached into his pocket and withdrew a small device. "Here, if for some reason you ever need to get in contact with me, you can use this." He put it down on the small table that was provided by Shadow's bed, and started to walk off. He needed to eat breakfast. 

"I'm staying." Shadow said, glancing at the device briefly, then looking back at his leg. "But I'll leave tomorrow night." 

"That's good. I'd prefer you to rest that leg for at least two weeks though, but I guess duty calls. If you're hungry, I can always get someone to bring someth-" 

The dark hybrid cut him off. "I'll come myself." 

"Oh... Ok." And Blade left, casting one last glance back at Shadow when he reached the door. 

As soon as the other boy was gone, Shadow started to examine his leg. The broken bone had gone out of place so he'd have to re-set that. He limped around the infirmary and found a splint and some cloth bandages. Grasping his leg firmly in his hands, he pushed the bone hard till it popped back into place with a loud crack. Then he put the split against the leg and tied the bandage around it. Getting up, he tested his left leg, smiling ever so slightly, then walking off in the direction the other boy had gone. 

----------------------- 


	7. Love and Sacrifice - Part 6

**LOVE AND SACRIFICE(v3)**

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): Breif Meetings. _

-------  
Arasia  
------- 

Xeth combed his fiery mane of hair hastily, not really caring that he could just barely pull the comb all the way through the just below shoulder length strands of hair. Frowning, he looked around, trying to remember where he had put his hair-tie, before realising that he had it on his wrist. With a roll of his eyes, he quickly confined his unruly hair into a ponytail, allowing the shorter strands of hair that had escaped the hair-tie to fall messily over his eyes. 

"Perfect." He said, carefully, pulling one strand of hair aside before placing his sunglasses over his ember eyes. Grinning, he adjusted the collar of his outfit which just happpened to consist of one colour: Black. 

Picking up his bag, Xeth walked to the door, pausing by a window breifly. Arasia was so different from Corse to him. Especially the area he was in. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was in an area where the Kaitan Alliance was very prominent? Could be. Laughing at himself for bringing up such a silly question, the fire hybrid left the small inn he had been staying at walked into town. 

He didn't care that people stared at him. Actually, he did, but it didn't bother him all that much. With his tail-flame extinguished, and the actual tail tucked down the leg of his pants, and his red eyes hidden, people took him for a tourist, albeit a slightly weird tourist. 

He wasn't paying much attention to where he was going, and eventually noticed that he had passed into enemy teritory. Not that the Alliance didn't 'own' all of Arasia, but there were certain areas that one just didn't walk into unless they were a Kaitan soldier, someone selling something, or an idiot. Xeth felt he fell into the third category. Swallowing nervously, he started to turn, hoping no one would noticed him, when he spyed some soldiers picking on a young girl and her vulpix. 

"Hey!" He exclaimed, momentarily forgetting that he was supposed to stay hidden, and that sometimes it was best to think things over before rushing in. "Leave the kid alone." 

The soldiers dropped the vulpix, who ran back to her trainer, and then advanced on Xeth. 

"And who are you, kid?" One of them demanded. 

"Someone who thought soldiers were more honorable than that. How can you pick on such a small kid and her pet pokemon?" His eyes were blazing angrily now, and he was grateful for the cover of his sunglasses. 

"Who are you to know what soldiers are like? You're just a tourist." Another one scoffed, about to turn his back and walk away when Xeth lunged at him, knocking him down despite his much smaller size. 

The hybrid leaned forward then whispered dangerously into the soldier's ears. "Never underestimate anyone, no matter their age. You might live longer." Then he got up swiftly and ran before the soldiers could recover from their momentary shock. What he had just done had been incredibly foolish. He could have revealed his true nature if he hadn't been able to keep his temper locked up. 

Looking over his shoulder, he realised that no one was chasing him, so he sighed in relief and sliped into a crowded market. He'd have to flee the area soon, but he had a mission somewhere nearby that night. Nothing major though, so he'd be able to leave immediately after. For now, he'd just have to stay far away from the Kaitan camps. 

------------------------------- 

Indenki didn't have much trouble passing for a human, so long as he kept his voltage down, he was safe. He had no tail or fur to worry about, only the unusal ability to be able to easily conduct and control electricty. His deep blue eyes watched his surroundings with a cold indifference few could match. It wasn't that he didn't care about people, for he did. What other reason could there be for him to be risking his life in the war for? But he could not afford to show emotions. They had to be hidden, hidden deep within him. 

His current mission was simple. He had enrolled in an expensive boarding school in Arasia, his homeland, and would be posing as a student there for some time. There was a military base not too far from the school, and he had some stealing to do. He did his best not to attract attention while he schooled, and most people kept their distance from him. 

_Most_ people. 

"Indenki!" 

He inwardly groaned, but simply turned around and glarred at the young girl. Her black hair hung about shoulder length, and her brown eyes ignored the cold look he gave her. 

"Are you going to the school party tonight?" She asked him, smiling brightly. He always wondered how she could seem to cheerful around him, how she could simply ignore his cold cover and see right through him. 

"No." He answered, turning around and walking back to his dorm, hoping she would take the hint. 

"Why?" She asked, catching up with him. "Can't dance?" 

He glarred at her once more, then quickened his pace. 

"I was just joking!" She called after him, catching up again. "What, you have something else to do tonight?" 

"Yes." He replied. 

"And what's that? Studying?" She sarcastically suggested, rolling her eyes. 

They had reached the door to the boy's dorms, and he entered without answering, leaving her outside alone, not to her surprise though. Donari knew what kind of person Indenki was. She'd grown up with one of them... 

"So much like my 'brother'..." She said to herself. "Indenki, why do you hide like that?" She sighed, brushing away some loose strands of hair. "Well, Donari Tavis is not letting you off that easily... I'm going to follow you tonight. I don't mind missing the party...all that much..." She smiled to herself, then ran back to her own dorms. The spiky haired boy intrigued her. Maybe she just missed Sei and considered him a replacement, but then again, she wanted more excitement in her life. She had always envied Sei for one thing; he got to live life dangerously. It was stupid of her, she knew, but she couldn't help it. 

-----------  
That Night  
----------- 

Indenki short-circuited the electricity in the base before entering. It took him little time to find the micro-chips he needed to steal, and the files. But as he exited, her heard someone behind him, and he whipped around, gun in hand. 

"What are you doing here Indenki?" 

"Donari..." He aimed the gun at her. "You're in over your head." He said, about to fire when a bullet whizzed out from nowhere and caught him in the shoulder, knocking him down, and causing him to drop the gun. He was about to reach for it when another bullet sent the gun sliding several feet away. He created an electrical force-field around himself and got up, looking at his attacker. 

He was a boy about Indenki's age, and had fiery red hair. His eyes were the same vibrant colour, and there was a tail with a flame at the end behind him. He looked at the girl, aiming the gun at her now. "I'm sorry, but you must understand that I can't let you li-" 

"You're like Sei! You're a hybrid aren't you?" She inquired. 

He nearly dropped his gun in shock, and Indenki, who had retrieved his gun, lowered it. 

"My parents raised the dark hybrid, Shadow Seikou. I haven't seen him for a long time, but I know he lives." She looked from the red-head, to Indenki. "You're a fire hybrid, and you're electric..." She stated, then smiled. "So the other experiments _did_ work!" 

"Look, I don't know who you are, but I'm guessing that it's safe not to kill you." The red-head put his gun away. "For now anyway." Shrugging, he suddenly grinned. "I'm Xeth. I may run, and I may hide, but I never lie."[4] 

"I'm Donari Tavis." She answered, smiling back at the slightly older teen. 

"Donari *Tavis*?" Indenki repeated, frowning slightly. So she'd been going under a falsr alias all this time? How come he hadn't found any information on her then? "You're a descendant of the the Professors Nerina and Ferina who started the project..." 

She nodded. "I'm here for my safety, my parents don't want my life to be endagered by being around them." 

The fire hybrid raised an eyebrow, now curious. "Well, you'll be useful then. I'll be keeping an eye on you." He looked at his watch and then sighed. "I hate to shoot and run," He glance at Indenki's shoulder guiltily, "but I really _must_ leave now." He winked at the tow of them, an impish look on his face. "I'll see ya tommorow though!" He waved and then slipped into the night. 

Indenki sent a cold look in the hybrid's direction, and then lead Donari out, but as they neared the school again, he turned to her, glaring again. "Don't follow me again." He ordered. 

"You can't stop me." 

For one moment, the little emotion that showed in his eyes vanished, reminding her so much of her brother that a strong wave of nostalgia washed over her. "I'll kill you if I have to." His voice was flat, almost mechanical, and Donari knew he meant it. "Relative of Nerina and Ferina Tavis or not, I'll kill you." And he walked off. 

"Well, Indenki," She said, talking to herself yet again. "I guess that means you'll be killing me soon, ne?" She shrugged non-chalantly then looked at her watch. "10pm... I should be heading back to my dorm room." Smiling, she turned and jogged back. 

------------------------- 


	8. Love and Sacrifice - Part 7

**LOVE AND SACRIFICE(v3)**

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): Journey to another land._ [corny title...] 

------------  
The next night  
----------- 

"So you're leaving?" Blade asked the dark hybrid in a slightly wistful tone. It had been nice to meet another like him, one who knew what it was like to know that there was no other place in the world where they belonged other than the battlefield. 

"Yes." He responded, climbing up the stairs the lead to the outside world, looking around cautiously, and then dissapearing into the shadows in the way dark types tended to do. 

"Till we meet again!" Blade called after him. 

Shadow simply turned to look once at Blade, his green eyes reflecting the light from the trap door, and then continued on into the darkness till Blade could no longer tell where he was. 

"Dangerous boy..." One of his comrades muttered. 

"He's had a hard life." The steel hybrid replied, defending him. "It's the only way he truly knows how to live." 

"How do we know we can trust him?" Another soldier asked. 

"We don't know, but so long as we stay out of his way, we're safe." Pausing, he stared into the darkness with his mercury eyes. "I almost wish he would attack us though, then at least I'd be able to see him again..." [1] 

----- 

Shadow had slipped past the border by the time the sun was rising. He was 'safe' for now, as he was in an independent country, one that had yet to be truly taken over by the Kaitans. However, there were barely even a handful of such countries left... It was only a matter of time before the entire east landmass of the world was completely ruled by the Kaitan Alliance. 

Checking the arm that had been shot, he realised he had opened up the wound and needed to clean it before it got infected. Glancing around cautiously, he noted that by the number of wild pokemon around, there was bound to be a water source nearby, and few humans. 

A pidgey flew up and perched on a branch nearby, looking at Shadow curiously. This only confirmed his suspicion that there were few humans around, for normally wild pidgeys would keep their distance from 'humans'. 

He walked around silently, careful not to disturb any of the wild pokemon. Finally, he found a small stream and rinsed his arm in the water, using a pair of scissors for him first aid kit to cut off the fur around the wound, then rubbing some cleaning alcohol on it and bandaging it. 

With that done, he ate a quick meal of dried meat and fruit. Not the tastiest things in the world, but nutritious enough, and easy to carry around. Deciding that he had plenty of time to stay in that area, he unbraided his long hair and combed it, attempting to un-tangle the long black strands. 

He looked at the hair-tie that he had taken off, and opened it, looking at the picture of his 'family' for a moment. It'd been a very long time since he'd last seen them. They'd become an important figure to those countries that wanted peace, being the only living relatives of the late Ferina and Nerina Tavis. He'd heard that Donna and Tahari had tucked Donari safely in boarding school under a different name while they continued their peace talks. Did they still have their persian and charizard? He could only wonder... 

Pushing aside his last ties to humanity, he put up his emotionless mask and braided his hair, putting the tie back in it's place at the end of the braid. He needed to be out of the country he was currently in as soon as possible, but first he'd need to scout around and check if there was another hybrid nearby. He'd gotten reports of three recent attacks on the Alliance. Two on the same night he had been ordered to asasinate Lt. Jakata, and one the night before. According to the natures of the attacks, he suspected that the fire and electric hybrids were both nearby, though he didn't understand what the fire hybrid would be doing in this area... The fire type project had orriginally started in a whole other continent on the west side of the world. The electric, however, had started somewhere in this continent. Fighting, dark and lightning had all been relatively close together, at least, they had been from the start. Though considering the fact that the continent of 'Arasia' was one of the ones being hit the heaviest at the moment, it was understandable that some of the others might have migrated from their orriginal hiding places. The steel hybrid, for one, had obviosuly only just moved in, for his accent was different. It seemed 'Eurelian' as far as Blade could tell, although the boy didn't look entirely Eurelian. 

The Kaitan Alliance had originated from Arasia anyway, though Kaita had been more of an inbetween country, extremely close to the continent of Eurel, and had long declared itself independent from either continent. 

He heard a high pitched beeping sound and returned to his motorcycle. He pressed in a three codes, and after a pause, the face of Professor Mikoto appeared on the screen. 

"Shadow, have you found any of the others?" 

"I've found the Steel. Fire and lightning are nearby." 

"Good. I have reason to believe they'll be leaving soon, so keep your eye out for any suspicious activities." 

Shadow nodded, then switched off the screen. The base that had been attacked was hundreds of miles away, so he'd have to find someway to travel during the day without being seen. He brought up a map on his little screen, and studied the various routes he could take. There was a relatively abandoned path full of many dangerous wild pokemon. Perfect for him then. The pokemon would most likely stay away from him, and if they attacked, he could take care of them. 

--------------------  
Same day, continent of 'Farica'  
------------------- 

"Do I have to?" 

"Yes." 

"Really have to?" 

"Yes." 

"Really, really have to?" 

"ERIAN! Get on the d*mned boat!" 

The ground type hybrid looked reluctantly at the boat, and the water it floated on, then looked back at the rebel soldier she was travelling with. "Isn't there some other way we can get to Arasia?" 

"Not in the time that we need to get there, and without getting noticed." He replied. 

She twirled a short lock of brown hair with one idle finger. "If our boat sinks, or I somehow get thrown into the water, I'll personally murder you." 

"Erian, the boat is perfectly safe." 

"They said the same thing about the-" 

He grabbed one of her furry hands and dragged her onto the boat, forcibly holding her back as she attempted to escape off the boat. As they sped away, she nervously peeked over the edge of the boat, then rushed away from the railing, staying where she couldn't see the water. "The things I do for this world..." she muttered to herself. "When will we get there?" She asked Joseph. She would have latched onto him, but she was rooted to the spot she was in for fear that she would slip and fall into the sea. 

"In a week." 

"You mean we're gonna be on this boat for that long? This is torture! I'm a ground hybrid, I need the ground to feel comfortable..." 

Joseph sighed, drowning out her complaints. They were meant to put all their hopes into a hybrid that was terrified of the water and complained constantly? He'd known her his whole life, and she had not matured as fast as they had hoped. "Fine, let me show you to your cabin, you'll feel safer there." 

"Good." She got up and stuck close to him, and when they got to her cabin, she flung herself onto her bed, burry her head into her pillow. "I'm staying here until we reach land." She declared, rummaging through her bag and taking out a jar with soil in it, then hugging it. "So, are we going to continue my language tutorials?" 

"Yes, now-" 

"Kuso!"[2] She cursed as she nearly dropped her jar of dirt as the boat rocked a little violently. 

"Where'd you learn that?" He said sharply, frowning at her. 

She grinned nervously. "Uhh... I picked it up?" 

Shaking his head, Joseph picked up a book. "Okay, today we're going to study the various levels of respect..." 

---------------  
Same day, continent of Eurel  
--------------- 

"So, you're the grass hyrbrid?" 

Vair nodded, a few strands of green hair falling infront of her eyes. "And you're the ice hybrid." 

"Yup." Aita said. 

"So..." 

"Hmm?" 

They sat under a tree, lazily drinking lemonade. At least, Aita was drinking a glass of lemonade. Vair was drinking some sort of mineral solution mixed in lemonade. They'd pretty much exhausted all that they could think of to talk about, however, and were just enjoying the quiet time. For all the knew they might be dead in a couple of hours. The two of them made an interesting picture, one with pale white-blue hair that cascaded down her shoulders like a frozen waterfall, and another with dark forest green hair that wildly draped her back like vines. Their skin were tinted in light shades of their hair colours, and Aita had a fluffy tail that she never really understood the existence of. 

"Do you think there are others?" Vair asked idly, tired of the silence. 

"Obviously." Aita replied shortly. 

"Are you always so... serious?" Vair had been about to say 'cold', but had caught herself just in time. 

"I'm an ice hyrbrid, what do you expect? And look who's talking! You're not exactly the friendliest person in the world either." 

"Hmph." 

"Are you going to Arasia?" 

"Yes. Are you gonna go to the conference?" 

"Yes." 

"Are we _really_ going to attack in the day? I personally don't mind, but... We'll be seen!" 

"That's the point. We want them to acknowledge our existence. Besides, hopefully the others will learn about the attack, and we might be able to get in contact with them. It's comman knowledge that the Fighting, Steel, and Dark types are all Arasian. Steel, Ice, Flying and Grass are from Eurel, or nearby." She looekd at Vair. "You _are_ from Eurel, right?" 

"Yeah." 

They were silent again, sipping their drinks. They had both been delighted to find out that there were more of their kind, even though they didn't start off on the right foot, after Vair tracked down Aita, they both apologized and became 'friends'. 

"Say, Vair?" 

"Yeah?" 

"When was your first time?" 

Vair looked at Aita with a puzzled frown. 

"First time you killed someone I mean." 

"Oh," Vair put down her drink and leaned against the tree, lazily plucking a flower from a nearby bush with a vine whip. "I was about... thirteen, fourteen?" 

"Same here." A wry smile tretched across her lips. "Some way to enter puberty..." She commented. " But we do need to eliminate the real threat, not the Kaitans, but those hiding behind the guise of the Kaitans." 

"Unfortunately for us, they haven't revealed themselves yet..." 

"They will, they're just biding their time. They've got an excellent leader too. Lady Yiana Naventa, right? And she has a lot of well train pokemon trainer-soldiers. They're going to be tough enemies." Aita got up, wiping some sweat off her forehead. "Aren't you hot?" 

"Hot? I'm freezing!" Vair exclaimed in surprise. "Why do you think I warmed my drink?" 

Aita looked at the grass hybrid then sighed. "I'm going down below to train. Coming?" 

"Sure. We leave tommorow, right? Its gonna be a long journey..." 

----------------------------- 

[1] Bad me... I stole that line. [2] 'Kuso' is a swear word. Enough said. 

----------------------------- 


	9. Love and Sacrifice - Part 8

**LOVE AND SACRIFICE(v3)**

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): If sweet dreams are made of love, what are nightmares made of?_

-------------  
A week later  
------------- 

_ red _

pain 

blood 

hurts 

stop 

please 

stop 

Curled up on the ground by his motorcylce, Shadow's ears and tail twitched violently. Every now and then, he'd roll over, or curl up even tighter into a ball of black fur, as if trying to hide from the nightmare he was having. Beneath his eyelids, his eyes could be seen to be moving back and forth despite that fact that he was sleeping, and he was biting down hard on his lower lip, almost hard enough to cause it to bleed. 

_ dark _

lonely 

cold 

**fear**

leave 

me 

alone 

stop! 

He woke up with a start, backing up agaisnt the tree his motorcycle was leaned against. He was trembling, and when he lifted one hand to his face, he realised he had cried in his sleep for the fur there was damp. Like many nights before, his emotionless barrier dropped in his dreams. Why couldn't he push those memories back? Why did they keep on haunting him? He just wanted to forget... He just wanted to fight this war and be over with it, and his life... 

He wrapped his arms around his legs, resting his chin on his knees. His ears were flat against his head, a sign that he was troubled. Frightened by his dreams... 

/Why can't I get rid of these memories? What's happened has happened... I can't do anything about it. I can't change what happened to me those nights, I can't change the fact that the few I loved abandoned me. I can't change the fact that I'm worthless, that my life is nothing... If I die in this war, so be it. I have no place in this world. It will be a better place without my sorry, non-human, non-pokemon self. I'm a freak, not even a freak of nature, but a freak created in a lab... Created to fight, and to kill. That's all I can do right... _Kill_. Those who come near me die if they don't abandon me first.../ 

A beeping sound from his motorcycle, however, stopped his train of thought, bringing him out of his dark mind. Once again, his eyes lost their sorrowful sheen, the light in them dying out, and he put on his mask, hiding his true feelings from the world, then getting up to find out what his new mission was. 

------------------------------- 


	10. Love and Sacrifice - Part 9

**LOVE AND SACRIFICE(v3)**

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): Waiting for missions_

---------  
In Arasia  
--------- 

"Land! I knew there was a God!" Erian ran off the ship, running ahead of Joseph and flung herself onto the ground, kissing it soundly. "My one true love..." She sighed. 

Joseph shook his head again. He had given up believing that she'd ever be serious. He could only be thankful that there were other hybrids... He walked over to Erian and picked her up, then tuged her along. "We need to hurry up and get out of here. You know that traveling from continent to continent is forbidden." 

"You're the one who needs to get out fast. I can always burrow you know." She said, struggling to keep up with his pace. "So, where are we going? Can we go into town at night? I want to look around!" 

"You'll get caught." 

"No I won't." She looked Joseph in the eye. "I may appear fun-loving, but I've killed before. The friendliness is only skin deep. I can take care of myself." 

He held her gaze for a moment, then turned away. "Fine. But be careful." 

"Thank you Joseph-chan!" She hugged him tightly. 

"...chan?" He raised an eyebrow and looked at her curiously. 

----------  
That Night  
---------- 

Indenki typed away at his computer, pausing occasionally to brush away a strand of spiky hair that had fallen over his blue eyes. He was currently hacking into some files that he needed for a future mission. 

"Hey, whatcha doin?" 

No reply. 

"Aw, common! We're on the same side!" A head with shockingly bright red hair popped up at his shoulder, trying to look at what he was doing. He was rewarded, however, with a sudden whack on his head. 

"Go away." The arasian boy commanded, his eyes not leaving the computer screen. 

"You didn't have to hit me so hard..." Xeth complained, tenderly rubbing the spot that had been whacked. Casting one last glance at the electic hybrid, he scowled then returned to the bunk bed in the dorm room they shared. "It's not like I don't know how to keep my mouth shut about things... And we're on the same team. All the time, 'Xeth, go away' or 'Xeth, shut up'." He muttered to himself. "Can't you say anything else?" He called out to the other hybrid. 

"Hn." Was his reply. 

/Geez, if you put a rock up his *** you'd probably get a diamond in no time.../ Xeth lay on his bed, on his stomach of course, as he didn't want to set the bed on fire. /He's so uptight. He should lighten up. We're fighting a war here, and we could die any day. Might as well enjoy life while we can./ His thoughts were disturbed as Indenki suddenly got up and turned off his computer, then started to look through his bag for something. 

"What are you looking for?" Xeth asked. 

"Shut up baka." Indenki replied, not looking up. 

"So I'm 'baka' now?" Xeth raised a bright red eyebrow. "I shouldn't be taking such insults from you..." 

"Hn." 

Xeth snorted, getting off the bed and walking around, very bored. 

"You should study." An emotionless voice told him. 

"Study? Why should I study? We'll be out of here soon anyway." 

"We don't need to stick out." 

"I'll study later." Then he noticed what Indenki had removed from his bag. "A pokeball? Hey wait, that's an ultraball isn't it? What'd you need an ultraball for?" Of course, he didn't get an answer. "Oh c'mon Indenki! You know I won't shut up..." 

"You'll find out later." Indenki replied, looking at the ultraball in his hand for a breif moment before putting it away. 

"What kind of answer is that?" Xeth asked, although he knew he wouldn't be answered. "You are _so_ annoying, did you know that Indenki?" 

And to his surprise, it seemed as if Indenki smiled, just ever so barely, effectively shocking Xeth into shutting up for the rest of the night. 

---------  
In Eurel  
--------- 

"The wind flows through your wings, caressing your body like-" 

"Hey Swift!" 

The flying hybrid stopped his poetic thoughts and turned to look at who had been calling him. His sharp eyes picked out one of the professors standing below the tall tree he was perched on. He sighed, for he had now forgetten where he had reached in his 'poem', but he flew down to find out what it was the professor wanted. 

"Swift, you shouldn't be coming out so often. You might get spotted. There's a space inside where you can fly." 

The teenage hybrid sighed, folding his wings onto his back. "But the air out here... It's so much better than down in the hideout. It feels better flying when I'm out. I feel free..." 

"You won't be allowed to fly _at all_if you get caught." The professor reminded him. "Now, you need to hurry back in before Professor Augustus realizes you've come out again without telling anyone." 

"You didn't tell anyone?" Swift asked in surprise. 

"Now, why should I have? We're friends, remember? I'm only five years older than you." The blonde Professor grinned, then patted the younger boy on the shoulder. "Common, let's hurry up. I have a project to work on." 

Swift smiled back at the professor,, not knowing how to convey how grateful he felt that someone still considered him as a living human, and not just a specimen to be watched. "Thank you, Chris." 

"You're welcome." Chris was happy to see the boy smile. He'd been becoming a little too anti-social recently, and though that was actually a welcome trait in a 'perfect soldier', it killed him to see Swift isolated so much. 

-------------- 

They re-entered the underground hideout and managed to slip back to where they should have been without being noticed by Professor Augustus. 

"Now where was I?" Swift lay in his room on his stomach so he could stretch his wings out, holding a notepad and a pen. "The wind flows through your wings.... No, the wind flows freely though your wings, carressing your body like the...gentle hands of one's lover." He thoughtfully nibbled on his pen, his 'night-eyes' seeming to scan the ceiling for answers. "The sky becomes your road, but there are no traffic lights to halt your progress. Speed is a need, one you can fulfill. You are free, free to go where you want, free to swoop down and dive, free to soar high up into the sky, to break through clouds. When you fly, you are alive, you are whole." He wrote as he spoke, the words flowing freely from his mind to the paper. He'd always wondered if it was possible to describe the sheer joy he felt when he flew, to describe just how wonderful it was! He had tried many times, and he had never fully succeeded. He could only give those without wings a mere glimpse into what it was like. To him the task was nearly as difficult as describing colours to a blind person... 

Someone knocked on the door. 

"Come in!" He called, closing the notepad quickly and hiding it under his pillow. 

"Swift, get packed. Tomorrow, we leave Eurel for Arasia." Professor Augustus poked his head into the room, raising his eyebrows suspiciously. He had a feeling Swift was hiding something... 

"Yes sir." Swift replied, folding his wings. 

"Get some rest, you'll be doing a lot of flying tomorrow." The professor ordered, closing the door as he left. 

"Flying, my one true love." A smile crept onto the boy's face as he withdrew his notepad once again. But then he noticed the time, and decided to put it away. Swift curled up on his bed, folding his wings over his body. "Tomorrow, I fly..." He whispered to himself as he shut his eyes and drifted into a peaceful sleep. 

------------  
In Corse(Think America, oh, and it's daytime here)  
------------ 

"Humans are boring, don't you think so Haunter?" Tevax asked the ghost pokemon that had been sent to keep an eye on him while he went for a walk through the town. Of course, no one saw either of them, for they were invisible, and free to go wherever they wanted. 

"Haunter, haunter haunt." The pokemon agreed. 

"But they're fun to scare though, aren't they?" He added with a wink, and grinning when the ghost pokemon agreed again. "I'm gonna miss this town. They were so fun to terrorize! That is, until Professor Johnson forbid me from haunting them..." 

"Haunter..." 

"Oh well, they'll be more towns to haunt in Arasia and Eurel!" 

"Haunter haunt haunt haunter!" 

"Oh yeah, you're not coming..." He sighed. "Oh well, I guess you'll have to be content with me telling you all the details when I get back, huh? Just remember that you better keep this continent safe. You'll be in big trouble if it's been captured when I get back!" He looked sternly at the ghost pokemon, who nodded solemnly. "Good, now let's get back to the base. It's boring out here in the day, isn't it?" 

"Haunter." 

The pale boy floated a few inches off the ground, his jade eyes drinking in the scenery longingly. The wind was blowing, but his raven hair, which contrasted marvelously with his alabaster skin, did not stir. 

--------------- 

"He's everything you want, he's everything you need, he's everything inside of you that you wish you could be, he says all the right things at exactly the right times, but he means nothing to you and you don't know why." Merideth smiled as she finished the verse and started humming the rest of the song along with the CD. 

"Merideth, we're trying to concentrate over here!" A voice yelled from outside her room. 

"Sorry!" She yelled back, turning down the volume of her CD player. As soon as the song ended, she took out the CD and replaced it with another one. "Ah, the Mission Impossible theme song." Again, she started humming as she worked away on her computer. "Well, well, mission possible!" She congratulated herself as she successful hacked into some Kaitan files. "Aw man, we'll need to go to Arasia... That's going to be hard..." Sighing, she wondered how they'd get through the barriers that prevented communcation and travelling between continents, sometimes even between countries. 

She printed out the neccessary documents to take the the Professor in charge of the whole project. "Wing cramp..." She muttered to herself as she got up and stretched. Sitting down for five hours straight was _not_ something she recommended to anyone. She unfolded her smooth wings and massaged her neck. "I need to exercise more, or I won't be in shape incase I need to do any fighting. I am, afterall, the dragon hybrid." She told herself proudly. 

"Hey Merideth, Professor Smith wants to speak to you!" 

"Coming!" She picked up the information she had just printed and arranged it, then folded her wings and ran out. 

------------------ 

"What do I want to be today... Pokemon, or human? Male, or female?" Devin nibbled thoughtfully on a bar of chocolate. "I think I'll be male, and..." He, no...it? looked into his mirror. "Let's try, short black hair, green eyes, same height as now, but sexy." He grinned devilishly as he concentrated on changing his genetic pattern, something that came as easily to him as flying did to a pidgey. "All right! It worked!" He struck a pose. "The new Devin." Running a hand through his hair, he blew a kiss at his reflection. "You're a handsome devil today, aren't you?" 

He walked out of his hotel room, checking out, and inwardly grinned at the confused look on the manager's face. 

"Where's the other boy?" 

"He left earlier." Devin replied. "See ya later!" He waved and left. Today, he was crossing the ocean to go to Eurel. It would be a long boat ride, but it was going to be a big ship, which meant lots of people for him to memorize the genetic patterns of. He never knew when a new identity might be handy. It would help to steal a few wallets too, as he could always use some spare IDs. "Man, when this war ends, I might have a career as a con-artist waiting for me, a successful one too." He would, however, have to be extra careful on the boat. It was a _very_ illegal ride, and therefore a very expensive, and dangerous one. Their chances of making it to Eurel alive were slim, but Devin decided that if something happen, he could always turn into a water pokemon and attempt to swim the rest of the way. 

------------------------------ 


	11. Love and Sacrifice - Part 10

**LOVE AND SACRIFICE(v3)**

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): No one works alone._

---------------  
In Arasia  
---------------  


"Keisuke, meet your pokemon." Professor Victoria[1] gestured towards a steelnix that was lounging in a large cage. "He was genetically engineered for you." 

Walking up to the cage, Blade took a good look at the Steelnix. It would be perfect for mass destruction and such. 

"Steel steelnix." It said, moving it's head to the boy. 

"So, we'll be working together..." He reached into the cage and gently patted the steelnix on the head. "What it's name?" He asked the professor. 

"His name is Slicedrill.[2] He has been trained especially for things you might need him for. I trust you with him." 

Blade nodded. "Where's his pokeball?" 

"A pokeball is too bulky. Here." She handed him what looked suspiciously like a silver colour with a locket. "Should I put it on for you?" 

At first he hesitated, but then nodded. "What is it?" 

Snapping it around his neck, she explained. "The locket is like a miniature, compact version of the pokeball. The 'coller' just serves as a way for you to keep it without losing it. We consider a regular chain, but that could easily slip off. It's thin though, so you can easily keep it hidden underneath your shirt if you're worried about it reflecting light." 

"It's fine." Blade replied, fingering it curiosuly. It fit him perfectly. "How do I recall Slicedrill?" 

"Like this." She pressed a tiny button that was on the right side of the 'collar', and a beam of light shot out at the steelnix. When the light faded, it was gone. "It's as easy as that." 

Smiling, Blade turned to regard the Professor. She was the one who had been in charge of his creation, of Project H/C, Type#14. Although Blade had never come to regard her as a mother figure, he greatly respected, and admired her. "Thank you, Professor Victoria." 

"You're welcome Keisuke." She then looked at her watch. "You should be heading out now. It will be dark soon, and travelling should be easy. Your motorcycle is waiting for you." And then she left, off to work on some other project. 

Blade took one last look around the base. This was a newer one, and still wasn't complete. They were still un-packing everything since their move from Eurel. But he still felt slightly attatched to it, and to the people that worked there. 

Once outside, he mounted his motorcycle, planed out his journey for the night, and where he'd stay during the day, and went on his way. There was no time for delays. There was somewhere he had to be within the next few weeks, and it'd take a long time to get there. 

-------------------- 

"So Indenki, what was the Ultraball for?" Xeth asked as they walked back to their dorm from classes. "Common, you said I'd find out later!" He groaned as Indenki simply ignored him, as usual, and didn't even look at him. "Of all the others I could have met, I had to find you, didn't I?" 

"Be quiet and follow me." Indenki finally spoke, taking a sudden detour from the dorm rooms. 

"Where are we going?" 

"I said, be quiet." 

"Fine." Xeth clamped his mouth shut, and concentrated on trying to keep up with the lightning hybrid. They dissapeared into the 'forest' that was behind the school, and finally stopped near a tree that had a small, nearly invisible, black 'X' painted on it. Indenki knelt down, then suddenly peeled away the grass that was at the foot of the tree. There were what looked like two silver collars hidden there, and he picked them up, replacing the grass. Examining the collars for a while, he finally handed one to Xeth, snapping his own around his neck. 

Xeth looked suspiciously at his own before putting it around his neck. "What is-" He started to ask, but a glare from Indenki shut him up. 

"Watch." Indenki pressed a finger to the right side of the collar, and two beams of light appeared.[3] 

"A Zapdos and a Raikou? But those are legendary pokemon!" 

"Genetic engineering." Was Indenki's reply as he walked up to the two pokemon and examined them. After looking them over, he allowed himself the luxury of getting to know them a little better. 

Deciding to follow Indenki's example, the fire hybrid found the button on the right of the collar, and two beams of light also appeared for him. A charizard, and a rapidash. Though they weren't any ordinary charizard or rapidash. For one thing, they were mostly black, instead of the usual colours for their species, but Xeth didn't care. He happened to like the colour black, second to the colour red, of course. 

"Well, looks like I've finally got some partners. Air travel, and land travel." He approached them cautiously, the petted them on their heads. "Nice to meet you, I'm Xeth." 

"Charizard." 

"Rapidash." 

"Good thing we get along... Then again, I am half fire pokemon, so you should like me." 

"Let's go." Indenki's voice suddenly commanded. 

"Alright, alright. I'm coming!" Xeth recalled the two pokemon, then followed the already leaving Indenki back to the dorms. 

---------------------------------- 

-----------  
In Jarlis(I dunno, just a continent I made up)  
----------- 

Kaor sat down on a table in one of the many labs in the hideout he had grown up in. The professor was doing some last tests on him before she let him go off to Arasia. His tri-colour eyes looked around the lab with unhidden hate. Just looking at it brought back many unpleasant memories. "Are you done yet?" He asked the professor. 

"Almost." She replied, running some last tests on a blood sample she had taken from him. After ten more minutes, she finally wrote down some last notes. "I'm done." 

"Finally." He muttered to himself, jumping off the table and about to leave. 

"Wait!" She picked something off a shelf and walked up to him, about to put it around his neck when he noticed and moved away. 

"What is that?" 

"It works like a pokeball. It's been in the development stages for a very long time, but we finally finished it. It can hold up to six pokemon." 

He blinked. "Just in that?" 

Nodding, she took advantage of his momentary shock and snapped it around his neck. "Pressing the small button on the right side recalls, and releases the pokemon. It's thin, and therefore easy to hide underneath a shirt collar. Try not to take it off though." 

"Sure." Then he glanced at the door. "Can I go now?" 

"Yes. And be careful Kaor! You have a very reckless personality." Professor Yalissa looked at him sternly. 

"I'll be fine." And he turned and left. He did wonder what pokemon he had gotten, but he suspected it would be a venomoth or a nidoking. Those were two pokemon he knew the Professor, and the others who worked in the base, had been doing extensive research on over the years. 

------------------------------------- 

/The trouble with me is I'm too fragile.../ Hali sat cross legged on the grasss, looking around with her compound eyes. /If only I had been a scyther hybrid, then at least I'd be of some more use. But as I am.../ She looked disdainfully at her butterfly wings. While strong enough to enable her to fly, they were still very easy to damage, and she had to be extra careful with them. /What use am I in this war? Why after my birth, did they not continue trying? How could I be called a success?/ 

"Hali, stop thinking, you're just going to end up getting upset again. You've been a great help to us. Your attacks are more powerful than a normal Butterfree's, and you're much more intelligent. No one works on their own, and together with us rebel soldiers, we make a perfect team." 

"You really mean it?" 

"Of course! Do I like like someone who would lie to you?" 

"Do you want me to answer truthfully?" She grinned. 

"Hali! Well, nice to see you back in high spirits anyway. Tonight, we'll be sneaking onto a boat and we'll be going accross the sea to the west to make it to Arasia." He dug into his pocket when he finished speaking, and handed soemthing silver to Hali. "The Professor said I should give you this. She said it's like a pokeball, and can hold up to six pokemon. You press the button on the right to get it to work." He paused, trying to remember what else the professor had said. "There are two genetically engineered pokemon in there. She said she hoped they serve you well." 

Hali looked at the strange collar-like necklace, then put it on and pressed the button. Two beams of light appeared and two bug pokemon formed. A scyther[4], and a beedril. "My first pokemon... Though it doesn't seem right to me. I am half pokemon myself... These guys will be more like comrades." She walked up to them. "I'm Hali, what are you called?" 

"Scyther scythe sychter." 

"Beedril bee bee dril." 

"Stealth, and Warrior." She nodded. "The names fit. Mind if we talk a little? I'd like to get to know my two partners." 

They 'shrugged', then nodded, and Hali smiled brightly. She spent most of her life around humans, so it would be nice to get to know 'her other half'. 

-------------  
In Indeli (another made up continent)  
------------- 

"The mind is a powerful, and precious thing. It is also, at the same time, something with many faults. The main one being emotions. That is what makes computers so efficient, and why humans cannot live together in peace." Siana recited as she went through some quick mental exerices. "At the same time, a soldier without emotions is not a true soldier, but one must also learn to hide their true feelings, or they will be used against you. A perfect soldier cares, but does not make it known. A perfect soldier is loyal, but knows how to distance his or herself from the ones they are protecting, and not let other affect his or her decisions." She stood up, finally opening her all golden eyes. In all truth, Siana was blind in the sense that she really didn't see through her eyes, but she *could* see, she just didn't see like most people did. 

"Making it to Arasia will be easy. I just need to teleport. But unfortunately, that will take a lot of energy, and I'll need a week to get back to my normal strength." She frowned ever so slightly. "However, with the assistance of a few alakazams, it shouldn't drain me too badly." 

"How about a Lugia?" 

Siana turned around sharply with disappointment on her face. How had the Professor entered her room without her sensing it? Yes, she knew he had a strong mental shield, but she was going to have to learn to be more sensitive to her surroundings... "A lugia? But lugia is a legendary pokemon, how would we be able to..." 

"Siana, we have been studying genetic engineering for a long time. If we could create a human/pokemon hybrid, why not a replica of a legendary pokemon?" The professor sighed as he walked up to her and handed her a silver collar. "Put this on. It's an advanced version of the pokeball, and can hold up to six pokemon. You press the button on the right to release or recall the pokemon." 

Siana put it on, then depressed the button. A white beam shot out, and a massive Lugia filled her room. It looked very much like the original, but with noticeable adjustments. /My name is Siana. We will be working together./ She projected to the psychic pokemon. 

/I do not have a name yet. But it is nice to meet you, Siana./ 

/Why don't you choose a name then?/ 

The Lugia was silent for some time, then it replied. /I wish to be known as Psyris./ 

/That's a very nice name./ 

/Thank you./ The Lugia looked around her room looking slightly uncomfortable. /Shouldn't we be leaving? We have a war to fight./ 

/We'll be leaving soon./ She turned to the professor. "Thank you. We shall be leaving for Arasia now." 

"Don't forget these." He handed her a laptop, and her bag. "Goodbye Siana. Take care." And he stepped out of her room. 

/Ready Psyris?/ 

/Ready./ 

She laid her hands on the lugia's neck, and they melded their minds together so that they could share the task. Siana concentrated on their destination, refusing to let any other thoughts distract her. Finally, after she was sure she had the spot firmly in her mind, they teleported, and appeared in an isolated area. /Well, Psyris, it looks like it's just us now, isn't it?/ 

The lugia nodded, looking around with a solemn expression on his face. /We should hurry up and find shelter. You are too tired to be able to protect yourself, and so am I./ 

----------------- 

[1] What? You didn't think all the Professors were going to be male, did you?  
[2] I admit, Slicedrill is a very stupid name. But when you think about it, it doesn't sound all that bad. (Pronounced 'Slice-drill')  
[3] Yes, I've given them two pokemon each. I know that in Gundam Wing the Gundam Pilots only had one gundam at a time, but these are pokemon, not huge mobile suits/mechs. Some of the hybrids will have only one pokemon, some of them will have two. 


	12. Love and Sacrifice - Part 11

**LOVE AND SACRIFICE(v3)**

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): A Look Into the Enemy Camp_

In a relatively empty, but very clean room, two adults, friends since they were children, fenced. Suddenly, they stopped, finding that they both had their 'swords' at each other's throats. Sighing, they withdrew their swords and put them back. 

The first, a young man in his early twenties, or maybe even younger, brushed away some of the wild, light brown locks of hair that fell over his face, then wiped away the beads of sweat the coated his brow with a handkercheif. His intense blue eyes seemed to dance with a merriment that otherwise didn't show on his face. "Good fight." He commented. 

The second, a slightly older woman with very short black hair, and bangs that fell over her left eye, smiled slightly and then answered. "Yes, it was. Though I am still waiting for the day when one of us wins." 

"Another tie?" A woman about their age asked, saluting infront of the other woman as she spoke. "Your excellency, kernel Haris wanted to see you." 

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "I'll be right there, you're dissmissed." She turned to the man she had previously been fencing with. "And you may leave to." 

"Yes mam." They both saluted, and left together. 

"So, how was the fight?" The other woman asked as they walked down the hallways together. 

"Good, as usual." He replied. 

"Will you be coming down to my base next week?" She asked. 

"I might. I have some... other buisiness to attend to here." 

"Oh." She looked outside a window and noticed a pidgeot waiting. "I need to leave now. An instructors work is never finished... You'd think they could find someone else to help teach them proper pokemon handling." She sighed, and put on a sort of helmet over her short dark brown hair. "See you next week Reix!" She waved, then ran outside. 

He watched her go, then turned and began to walk back to his quarters. He had a lot of work to do, mainly planning. Next week, they were going to do away with the Kaitan Alliance, and take over, as planned. And those hybrids were going to be a big help. 

-------------- 

Hidden behind the guise of the Elite force of the Kaitan Alliance army, Zentai[1], was a corporate subsidiary of Team Rocket[2] that worked on breeding and genetically enhancing pokemon, and also on testing the effects of crossing human and pokemon DNA. Team Rocket was a mainly industrial corporation, and a major financial backbone to the Kaitan Alliance, and with the help of Zentai, it secretly manipulates the Alliance. Unknown to the leaders of the Kaitan Alliance, Sai was planning on completely taking over and overthrowing the Alliance. 

The leader of Zentai was twenty-four year old Yiana Naventa[3]. The brilliant mastermind behind many, if not all of Zentai's current plans. Haris Kahin, Reix Corlis, and Vaela Demis were three other highly respected individuals of the organization. 

--------------- 

"Your excellency." Colonel Haris bowed as Yiana Naventa entered the room. 

She acknowledged him with a slight inclination of her head. "What is it that you wanted to see you for?" 

"We've been monitoring the movement of the hybrids for the past few days. They have been doing their best to keep their whereabouts secret, but we've managed to locate a few of them. They all are heading for this base, as we had anticipated." 

"Good. Is there anything else?" 

"Actually, yes." He turned to his desk and picked up a folder, his dark brown eyes quickly looking around the room, as if making sure they were alone. "We managed to get some pictures from some of the attacks." He handed the folder to her. 

Yiana quickly browsed through the pictures, then allowed herself to smile slightly. "Good work." She commented. "I'll be keeping these." 

He nodded. 

"I trust you'll keep monitoring them." This was more of a statement than a question. As soon as the words left her mouth, Yiana left to go back to her office, and look over the pictures. 

When she got back, she locked her door and sat down at her desk. Some of the pictures were clear, others were blurry. The clear ones showed her seven individuals, all surprisingly young. Considering all the damage they had caused, she had expected them to be a bit older. One shot showed three youths together. Two boys, and a girl. One boy had bright red hair, and red eyes. He also had a tail with a flame at the end. Obviously the fire hybrid. The other boy she was not completely sure of, though judging by his spiky hair, he was the electric hybrid. 

The girl, however, was another matter. She didn't seem to be a hybrid. In fact, she seemed like a normal civilian... Why was she with those two boys, who was she, and what did she know? They were going to have to keep close tabs on that girl. Something about her seemed very familiar... 

The other four, however, were obviously hybrids. Another boy, and three girls. The boy had had metallic grey eyes... mercury would probably be a better description. His platinum blonde hair gave the appearance of being very wiry, and his skin was tinged with grey. There was something... innocent about him, despite the blood that stained the sharp blades on his hands. Of the girls, they seemed to be the grass, ice and ground hybrids. The grass and ice hybrids seemed normal enough in appearance, excluding their oddly coloured hair, but the ground hybrid had taken a more pokemon like appearance. She had a human figure, but was covered in brown fur, had a tail, and tiny sandshrew like ears. 

Yiana put the pictures away, and got up, moving to the window that was behind her desk. She looked outside and saw some cadets training along with their pokemon. It wouldn't be long before they would be promoted to real soldiers, fighting for what they believed was right. That was the way things should be, and the way things had always been. 

---------------------------------- 

[1] It's a japanese word. I forgot what it means... 'Entire force of soldiers' or something like that...   
[2] Yup, good ol' Team Rocket! Though it's changed quite a bit.  
[3] I dare you to say her name five times fast without making a mistake! :) 

------------------------------ 


	13. Love and Sacrifice - Part 12

**LOVE AND SACRIFICE(v3)**

_ Love and Sacrifice(v2): (Un-named Part) _

-------  
In Arasia  
------- 

"Stop right there!" 

Shadow stopped in his tracks, cursing himself mentally for not having heard the soldier approach him from behind. 

"Put your weapon down!" The man commanded, moving closer to Shadow. 

The dark hybrid took his weapon out from where it was hidden and crouched down as if he was about to put it down, but halfway to the ground, he suddenly pivoted on his right heel, his braid whacking the man as he turned. He shot the soldier as he completed his turn, then ran. 

Behind him, two pokemon, an umbreon and a houndoom[1] were following closely. Shadow had recieved them a few days ago, and they had quickly become a team, working well together. 

Shadow, however, realized that he had obviously taken a wrong turn, for they reached a dead end. There was nothing but a window infront of him, and some soldiers somewhere behind him. As the soldiers neared, he recalled his pokemon and took out his gun once again. He fired one bullet at the window, effectively shattering the glass. He then proceeded to kill the five soldiers who were after him. 

Leaning over the window ledge, he decided that jumping down would be too risky. It was too high up, and there was nothing but concrete on the ground. But there was a tree about fifteen feet away. 

There were some shouts in the corridor ahead, and right as one of the soldiers rounded the corner, he leaped out of the window, and landed in a crouching position on a tree branch. He stood, turned to shoot the soldier, and began to climb out of the tree. 

When he returned to the deserted building he had been living in, he immediately checked his leg, the one he had broken some time ago. It was fine, and he hadn't re-broken it during the jump. As a result of his being genetically enhanced, he healed faster than normal humans or pokemon, but not as fast as he would like to. Shadow didn't particularly care about his body, but he knew that staying healthy was necessary if he was to carry out his missions efficiently, so he took care of it anyway. The bone in his leg had healed, but it was still fragile, and could easily break again. Next time, he was going to have to double check his directions so he didn't have to pull a stunt like that again. 

His next mission was a whole week away, however, and he was only five miles away from his target, so he had no traveling left to do. All he'd have to do over the next few days was train, and maybe steal some provisions. Shadow had a feeling that many of the hybrids would show up, for this was going to be a big mission. Many of the 'Zentai' leaders would be at the meeting on Friday, and Zentai, not the Kaitan Alliance, was their real target. The other purpose of the mission was to make themselves known, and to give the people in Arasia, and the other continents, hope for peace, and a renewed will to fight back. 

======================== 

Erian walked through the town with a smirk on her face. No one seemed to look at her twice despite the fact that she had gone through great lengths to hide every inch of her body, even wearing a hooded cloak. Then again, the fact that it was raining was a good excuse. 

Despite the rain, she was enjoying being out in the open. Arasia had proved to be not all that much different from Farica. Sure they had many different customs and such, but when one really compared them, there were many similarities. She bought a few snacks that she'd be able to carry around when she travelled on her own, and a map, but as she exited the shop, someone bumped into her, and caused her to drop her map into the mud, ruining it. 

"Hey!" She yelled at the retreating form. "Why you..." She muttered, running after the person. "Stop!" She commanded, but he didn't listen. /Wait, wrong language.../ "Kora! Kisama!"[2] 

That got his attention, and he turned around to glare at her. "What?" He replied in heavily accented, but clear, English. 

"You bumped into me back there and made me drop my map! I demand an apology!" 

"Look, I don't have any time to talk." He replied impatiently, glancing around with nervous eyes. "I'm in a hurry." 

"How long does it take to say 'I'm sorry'?" She asked, her hands on her hips. Although she was probably half a foot or more shorter than him, she didn't feel one bit threatened. 

"Fine, I'm sorry. Happy?" 

"No. Say it like you mean it." 

"I don't have time for this." And he turned and began to walk away. 

"You're gonna regret this!" She yelled. "Baka..." She muttered when he didn't reply. "Next time I see him, I'm going to-" 

"You're going to what Erian?" Joseph asked. He'd watched the whole episode between her and the boy, and had been highly amused by the way she had angrily demanded a sincere apology despite the fact that she was like an eevee demanding an apology from a Tauros. 

"I'm going to make him pay." She said haughtily. "Why didn't you intervene if you were standing there?" 

"I admit he was rude, but you were so caught up in yelling at him you didn't notice that fact that he had a silver collar under his shirt." 

"He _what_? And you just let him get away? We need to find him! He's an ally!" 

Joseph shook his head. "Not now. You saw those Kaitan soldiers that passed by? I think they were chasing him. I believe he took the opportunity to argue with you as a cover so they wouldn't realize it was him who had just been running. It's best to wait till things clear before we search for him." 

Erian didn't look convinced, but nodded anyway. "Joseph-chan, can we go to that pokemon store? Pleeeaaase? I saw the cutest sandshrew..." 

"What would you want a sandshrew for?" 

"I just wanna look!" 

He sighed. "Fine, but we're only going to look. After this, we need to head straight for the Dojo. They've been waiting for us long enough." 

"Have I ever told you how nice you are to me Joseph-chan?" 

"Many, many times..." 

----------------- 

They arrived at the Dojo half an hour later, and were hurriedly escorted to the hidden area underneath it. Glad to be out of the rain, Erian hurriedly threw off her coat and gloves and settled down in a chair with a content sigh. 

"Erian, meet Taru. He's the one who arranged for us to stay here while we wait for our next attack." 

"The daytime one?" 

Joseph nodded. "Yes." 

Taru smiled at the young girl, and then spoke. "We are pleased to have you here. The Kaitans have been ruling here for too long. We-" 

"Who's here?" Another voice asked as footsteps were heard coming down the stairs. 

"Visitors." Taru replied. 

"Visitors?" A head poked around the wall that lined the stairs, and Erian's eyes widened in recognition and surprise. 

"You!" She exclaimed, promptly folding her arms across her chest. "Well, fate seems to be in favor of justice being served! I still have a bone to pick with you!" 

He descended the last stair and stood beside Taru, looking at Erian in slight surprise. "Have we met?" 

She lifted her cloak. "Does this refresh your memory?" 

Recognizing the coat, her snorted. "I apologized already. Besides, it's not the position of a girl to demand apology from a man." 

"Why you little male chauvinist!" She got up from her chair and was about to slap him when Joseph held her back. "Let me go! I'm gonna cut off that little ponytail of his off!" 

Taru looked at the teenage boy that stood beside him. "You know her, Kenji?" 

"We met in the market." He replied. 

"Erian calm down! You're both hybrids!" Joseph scolded her, trying to hold her back. She stopped struggling, but stuck her tongue out at Kenji. 

"I am not fighting with her." Kenji said, looking down at Erian. "Women should not be fighting anyway. It is not the place of the weak to fight." 

"Weak? I'll show you weak!" 

"Erian..." Joseph said in a warning tone she knew all too well, calming her down again. 

"I believe people should fight for their beliefs, weak or not. So we're going to that base together, no matter what you say. Besides, I don't want to go with you either, but I have a mission to complete." She looked at Joseph, who let her go somewhat reluctantly. "If you don't mind, I'm going to bed now." Then suddenly she grinned. "See you tomorrow Kenji-chan!"[3] 

He narrowed his eyes, but refused to go down to her level. "Good night." He said simply, turning and going back upstairs. 

Joseph sighed, then looked apolegtically at Taru. "I'm really sorry about Erian..." 

"Never mind. Kenji's ego is too big." 

The Farican man loked in the direction Erian had dissapeared to. "I better go check on my sister." [4] 

--------------- Blade looked at of the attic window of the house of an ex-rebel soldier who had given him, and the soldiers who had accompanied him, refuge. His eyes were fixed on the stars, marvelling at their very existence. They were so beautiful. The whole world, the whole universe was so beautiful... 

"Why must we fight wars?" He asked himself softly, tearing his eyes away from the window and returning to the mattress he was going to sleep on. "Wars don't accomplish anything... But Zentai _must_ be destroyed. This must be a war to end all wars." He put on the sheaths that had been made for his blades so that he didn't cut himself while he slept. "But wars shall never end. Sooner or later another will start, and more will die." He slipped under the covers, and closed his eyes, willing himself to sleep. "But I'm no better than the members of Zentai... I've likely killed more than them..." Sleep overtook him, and he fell into a deep, but uneasy sleep. 

--------------- 

[1]No I didn't describe the houndoom because I'm still not all to clear *how* to describe it...  
[2] Kora means 'Hey!' and Kisama is a rude/vulgar way of saying 'you'.  
[3] There are various levels of respect. chan, kun, san, and sama are four I know. 'chan' is a kind of childish way to refer to someone, which is why Kenji was offended.   
[4] Surprised to find that Erian and Joseph are siblings? Why do you think he puts up with her? As much as I love Erian as a character, she'd be one annoying hybrid to have to travel with... 

-------------------------------------------------------------- 


	14. Love and Sacrifice - Part 13

**LOVE AND SACRIFICE(v3)**

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): Enter Zentai_

Yiana looked around with a smile on her face. All the leaders of the Kaitan Alliance were present, at least, all the peace seeking ones were. If things went as planned, the second act would be able to start that day. 

"Your Excellency." Haris saluted. "The others are ready. It's time." 

She smiled, smoothing back her short black hair with one hand. Carefully, she adjusted the red rose pinned on her uniform. "Let's go." Walking to the meeting room with a serene look on her face, Yiana Naventa did not give the appearance of a leader of a secret group planning a coup. Rather, she looked like the part she was playing, the leader of an elite military group going to a peace talk. "Keep calm Haris." She said quietly as they entered the room and took their places. 

Standing at the podium infront of everyone was Jarith Oak, the grandson of the legendary May Oak, and grandnephew of the also well known Gary Oak. How the family had made it into the Kaitan Alliance, no one knew, but it hadn't taken long before they became a highly respected bloodline, and one that people always took time to listen to, even if they didn't agree. 

"I believe that we should make peace with the other continents. These recent attacks are not, I believe, a complete reflection of the other continent's feelings. I think that, rather, they hope for peace even more than we do, and that we should disarm ourselves, and concentrate less of military development, and more on peace." 

"How do you expect to maintain peace without some way of controlling the other continents?" Haris challenged. "We need the soldiers and pokemon to help keep them in line." He would have gone on, but Yiana placed a hand on his shoulder, silencing him. 

"But it is the presence of these such military armaments that helps bring about wars. We must put an end to this! I'm sure that if reasoned with, those rebels that have been attacking us will stop fighting." 

"Talk is cheap." Yiana replied, somehow managing to keep her cool, while Jarith seemed to be slightly flustered. "The strong must rule. The way we can prove our strength and rule well is to have our army." 

"That is exactly the kind of attitude we don't need! If people think that way, wars will never end!" Jarith sighed, but brightened a little when murmurs of agreement were heard. 

"It is both human and pokemon nature to fight." Inwardly, Yiana smirked, noticing that the ever-eloquent Jarith Oak was at a loss for words. 

One of the Elite soldiers and his growlithe partner ran in, heading right for Yiana and saluting. "Your Excellency, the base is under attack!" He panted, wiping sweat from his brow. 

The large monitor behind Jarith was switched on, and it showed the base being attacked by as of yet unseen enemies. Following an explosion and youth riding a black rapidash with a black charizard behind came into view. He turned towards the monitor and winked, right before blowing up the camera. 

"The hybrids..." Jarith gasped, looking at the now blank screen with wide eyes. 

Yiana seized the moment. She was going to have to act quickly if things were to go as planned. She stood up, addressing everyone. "We have an aircraft that can be ready for you to leave on in a few minutes. We cannot risk your safety." 

Jarith seemed suspicious, but nodded anyway. "Thank you." 

She smiled slightly, then turned to the soldier who had run in earlier. "Go get the jet ready." 

He saluted, then ran out with his growlithe, returned five minutes later. "Your Excellency, the jet is ready." He said, saluting once again. 

"Good." She turned to Jarith with her little smile still on her face. "After you." 

Jarith once again looked at her suspiciously, but he and the other Kaitan Alliance leaders left, following the soldier to the plane. 

"Are you not coming?" One of them asked Yiana as he exited. 

"No, I need to stay and help defend the base." 

"Oh." 

-------------------------------------------- 

Xeth, clad in what looked suspiciously like a priest's outfit, rode on his Rapidash, whose name was Angel, up to the base. In his arms was a machine-gun, which he used to shoot any soldier or pokemon that came close. Beside him flew Devil, his charizard, who was using firespin on whatever living thing he saw. 

"This is too easy..." He muttered to himself as he swerved Angel to avoid getting hit by an ice attack. "Where the h*ll is Indenki?" He looked around, searching for the strange arasian boy he had traveled with. 

A bomb exploding, bringing down the gate to the base answered him. Out of nowhere, Indenki rode in on his raikou, electrocuting anyone who came near. 

"Impressive." Xeth commented, riding in after the electric hybrid. 

-------------------------------------------- 

Aita flew in on her Articuno, with Vair sitting behind her. They had been somewhat surprised to realize the base was already being attacked, but decided that that meant less work for them. The blue bird swooped down, landing just outside the base and allowing the girls to jump off. Aita recalled her, then noticed that the gate to the base had already been blown up. 

"I guess we don't need this then, do we?" Vair looked at the bomb she held. "Then what do we do with it?" 

"We'll find some use." Aita replied. "Now come on! They've probably realized they're being attacked by now, and if we don't hurry, they'll leave." She ran through the gate as soon as she finished talking, and Vair had no choice but to follow. 

-------------------------------------------- 

Jorvis too flew in, and was than just somewhat surprised when he'd spotted two girls, one with green hair, the other with pale blue hair, riding in on an articuno. He immediately landed his aerodactyl and followed them in, noticing that someone had already taken care of the first line of guards. 

"Hey! Stop!" A male voice called out from behind him, and he turned to see a boy about his age riding in on a Steelnix. The boy jumped off, then recalled the huge pokemon. When he walked closer to Jorvis, the rock hybrid realized that he seemed quite frail next to his own huge frame. 

"And you are?" 

"Blade Keisuke, the steel hybrid. And you?" 

"Jorvis, the rock hybrid." 

"I thought as much." He looked around, absently tapping his two steel blades together. "I suppose we should be going in, shouldn't we?" 

"I thought so myself." Jorvis mounted his Aerodactyl, and got ready to fly in. "Are you gonna take your steelnix in?" 

"No." The smaller boy sighed. "Slicedrill is too big. Besides, I can't attack effeciently on him." Blade saluted. "See you inside the base!" And he ran in. 

---------------------------------------------- 

Siana and Psyris teleported in, surprised to find the lightning and fire hybrids already in the base grounds and attacking. They quickly erected a shield around themselves, and started using psychic attacks against the pokemon that the soldiers had. Well used confusion attacks muddled the pokemon's brains and tricked them into attacking each other, and their trainers. It was a brutal way to get rid of one's enemies, but an efficient one. 

----------------------------------------------- 

Swift flew in with his fearow, savoring the feel of the wind on his skin. He went to each mission with the attitude that this could be his last time flying, and he wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. Turning behind him, he nearly stopped flapping his wings when he spotted a dark blue haired girl with leathery wings flying with a dragonite. 

"Hey!" She called, waving. "I'm Merideth!" 

/Such a beautiful voice... She must be a good singer./ He thought absently. "I'm Swift!" He yelled back, slowing down so that she could catch up with him. 

/He must be from Eurel with that accent. And he's got such beautiful eyes, they seem to reflect the sky somehow.../ Blushing slightly from her thoughts, Merideth quickly looked down and thankfully noted that they were at the base. "We've made it." 

"So we have..." Swift replied absently, hovering in the air. 

"How do you do that? Stay in the air without moving around? I have to keep moving or I fall!" 

"I dunno how I do it... I have a very light frame, so it's not hard for me." He suddenly dove, swirling down to the base gracefully with his fearow. 

"He moves so elegantly, doesn't he? I think I need more flying lessons..." She told her dragonite, flying around in a circle. 

"Dragonite!" 

"What?" Merideth looked behind her, continuing to fly in a circle at the same time. "Hi! I'm Merideth!" 

Hali blinked, before answering, stammering a little. "H...hi! I'm Hali." 

"Scyther?" 

"They're friends. Don't attack." She told the scyther. 

"Nice to meet you Hali! I'm going down now though, care to join us?" 

"S...Sure!" She smiled brightly. This was her first mission on her own, and it'd be nice to have a 'friend' to go with, so the two hybrids swooped down together with their partners. 

------------------------------------------------- 

Devin had already been in the base, masquerading as a soldier, when he'd heard the explosions outside. /What's going on?/ He asked himself, looking out of a nearby window, and being rewarded with the sight of two boys riding in on unusual pokemon. Not too long after, two girls flew down on an articuno, followed soon by two more boys. "I must be dreaming... Six of the other hybrids, all in one place?" He transformed into a spearow and barreled through the window, flying in and following where the hybrids had gone. 

He found them fighting the second line of soldiers defending the base. He transformed into a steelnix and started doing some heavy damage. 

--------------------------------------------------- 

A soldier found himself suddenly grabbed from behind, knocked out only moments later. Surprised, his comrade stopped commanding his pokemon and turned in surprise, looking for the attacker, only to be knocked out cold in the same way. 

"Well gengar, it's not as dishonorable when I don't kill them, right?" Tevax asked the ghost pokemon somewhat anxiously. 

"Gengar, gengar." 

"I knew you'd see it my way. However, I can't go on that way." He made himself visible, and took out his gun. "I hear something coming from the other side of the base, sounds like a fight..." He floated towards the noise. 

----------------------------------------------------- 

"Damn, I can't use my poison attacks with the other hybrids around..." Kaor bit his lower lip in frustration before smiling. "However, I still have this!" He took out his set of throwing knives, kissing the case. "I knew they'd be of use someday, but I may not be able to retrieve them." He looked fondly at it. "Oh well, people lose things in wars." He opened it up, and from where he stood, hidden behind a tree, threw a knife at a soldier who was about to shoot at one of the hybrids that had bright red hair. 

Surprised to see a soldier a few feet away from him fall suddenly with a knife in his throat, Xeth looked around and grinned when he saw the poison hybrid with his tri-colour hair. "Thanks!" He yelled before ordering his Rapidash to use a fire attack on the grass pokemon that was attacking Indenki's raikou. 

----------------------------------------------------- 

On top of her gyrados, Corvet rode in, disappointed yet pleased to find the battle already raging. Disappointed because it had started without her, but pleased that the other hybrids were around. She had no chance of infiltrating a base during the day on her own, for her water attacks were next to no good on humans. She was a pretty good aim with guns, but one could not rely entirely on weapons. 

"Go Jaws!" She commanded the huge water pokemon, who immediately 'charged' in, and joined the attack. There were a couple of fire pokemon on the Kaitan soldier's side, and Corvet was sure that the other wouldn't mind her help. 

------------------------------------------------------- 

"See ya later Kenji-chan." Erian said as she burrowed into the ground with a sandslash and a dugtrio. The fighting hybrid could only stare in surprise as they disappeared below the ground and dug their way to the base. 

Sighing he continued on, riding his motorcycle up to the base, then dismounting and running in. The fight had already started, and he decided that it would be wiser to use his machamp, rather than attack on his own. 

-------------------------------------------------------- 

A dark figure slipped through the base. While the other hybrids fought outside, he was free to steal some information on the Kaitan Alliance and Team Rocket. He had been in the base for about an hour now, having snuck in earlier. Of course, he'd had to kill a few soldiers, but they were on their break, and wouldn't be noticed until some time later. 

After hacking into the computers, he'd found some valuable information which he printed out. Mainly just the locations of some of the bases, but then he also found some secret files about a coup... His green eyes darkening slightly, Shadow read the documents, his mood darkening by the second. This whole attack was all a trap! Not necessarily a trap so much as a trick... The peace-seeking members of the Kaitan Alliance were to be 'accidentally' killed in this attack, mostly likely by one of the hybrids. 

Printing it out quickly, Shadow got up and was about to leave when he noticed a figure in the doorway. Automatically, his ears flattened themselves against his head and he hissed silently. 

"So, one of you managed to sneak in." The intruder was female, with black hair and hard, dark brown eyes. There was a slight smirk on her face as she looked over the dark hybrid. "So you're Project H/C Type #15... We thought you were dead after that attack on your original base. Seems you survived." 

Shadow stayed silently, one of his hands moving slowly to where his gun was. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She took out her own gun and aimed it at him. "But I'm not going to kill you." She lowered it, momentarily puzzling the hybrid. "I have a plane to catch." She turned, leaving a stunned Shadow behind. 

What was she trying to pull? Why hadn't she killed him? He pushed those thoughts aside, remembering that he had to get outside and warn the others not to attack either of the aircrafts that would be leaving. 

---------------------------------------------------------- 

Indenki spotted an aircraft leaving the base. He frowned and immediately pressed the button on his collar, releasing his Zapdos. Standing up on the raikou, he leapt onto the electric pokemon and flew up, straight at the aircraft. Had he released the pokemon a few seconds later, or if he had not noticed the aircraft just then, he would have heard the dark hybrid yell at him to stop. 

But he hadn't, and he had therefore mistaken the aircraft for one of the Zentai jets. Building up a high charge, more than the voltage he'd need to self-destruct, with his zapdos, he released a joint electric attack on the jet, effectively jamming it's controls and brining the aircraft to the ground, where it caught fire. 

When he landed, he was greeted with the serene face of the dark hybrid, which seemed to be sad for one brief moment. 

"That wasn't a Zentai jet, Jarith Oak and the other peace seeking Kaitan leaders were in there... This whole thing was a setup." He spoke with no emotion in his voice, but the words hit Indenki hard. 

The lightning hybrid froze, his eyes widening slightly in shock. "No..." He said in an incredulous tone. "What...have I done?" 

Corvet immediately took action, riding on her gyrados quickly, hoping to put out the flames and save the lives of someone. Xeth too followed, for the fire wouldn't bother him and he could easily slip in. 

The others, however, were all in shock. So much so that when a second aircraft left, they did not notice. 

----------------------------------------------------------- 

Sipping a glass of champagne in her jet, Yiana looked down at the base with a pleased look on her face. Turning to Haris, she spoke. "The second act has begun." 

------------------------------------------------------------ 

All over Arasia, Zentai soldiers who had been under the guise as the 'Elite Force', began to fight those who they had previously worked with, the Alliance soldiers. In a very controlled coup, the major bases were each attacked from the inside, allowing Zentai to now take center stage. 

"What's going on?" An alliance soldier asked, hearing the noise outside. Turning to one of his fellow soldiers in confusion, his eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when he saw the scyther standing infront of him, threatening to slit his throat. "Jim, call you scyther off me!" 

"I'm afraid not Sam. Zentai's taking over. Surrender, or be killed." 

"Jim..." 

"I'm serious." 

The alliance soldier raised his arms above his head, surrendering as he wasn't prepared to die in such a pointless way. 

Vaela peeked in, casually pushing her bangs out of her eyes. Noting the Z on Jim's shirt, she nodded. "Is this area secure?" 

"Yes Instructor Demis!" 

"Good." She re-mounted her rapidash and continued to check the base. 

----------------------------------------------------------- 

Reix rode up to the main building of the head base in the region he was in. "Will you surrender?" He yelled up to the man in charge of the base. 

"Never!" The man yelled back, loading his gun. 

"Very well." Reix replied. "But know this, the Kaitan Alliance is no more! Zentai is now in command." And he kicked the rapidash he was riding sharply, causing it to rear up. "Soldiers, attack!" He commanded his troops, and they started an all out attack on the base. 

Finally realizing that resistance was futile, the base's leader finally surrendered, not wanting to see his men killed. 

"Glad you've come to your senses." Reix replied smoothly. "Make sure the base is secure though." He told a group of his soldiers, who immediately spread out to inspect the area. 

------------------------------------------------------------- 

The hybrids had managed to rescue three of the men who had been in the aircraft, among them Jarith Oak. Unfortunately thoughe, Jarith was in a coma... They had not been able to stick around, however, and after rescuing the men, they had fled. Kenji had offered to let them spend the night at his Dojo, for there was plenty of room in the underground area, and they had agreed, for they were too tired to travel back to where they were staying. 

-------------------------------------------------------------- 


	15. Love and Sacrifice - Part 14

**LOVE AND SACRIFICE(v3)**

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): All together for the first time_

Shadow sat quietly in a chair, watching the others while at the same time detatching himself from them. The last thing he needed was to become emotionally attatched to any of them for any reason. The ground hybrid was arguing with the fighting hybrid over a map or something, and the three winged hybrids were talking together. The water hybrid was talking with the grass, and ice hybrids. All of them were getting to know each other, with the exceptions of the psychic and lightning hybrids. Even the ice hybrid seemed to distance herself from the group she was talking to. Shadow could see himself reflected in those three. 

------ 

"Hmm... Spread your wings out Merideth." Swift ordered the dragon hybrid, and she immediately complied so he could examine her leathery wings, which were quite differently structured from his own feathered ones. "I think I see why you can't hover now... Dragon wings just aren't built for it. That and they don't have as light a frame as many other flying pokemon." 

Merideth sighed, folding her wings. "So I guess I won't be able to learn how to hover?" 

"Possibly, but you'd need to exercise your wings more. They're a bit...weak..." 

"Well I only started flying two years ago. They were too small to carry me at first." 

"That must be why then, they might not have finished growing yet." He turned to Hali. "Mind if I check your wings?" 

"Sure." She spread her butterfly wings, and this time, Swift just looked at them, not wanting to touch her fragile wings. 

"It's amazing you're able to fly with those..." Starring at her in awe as he spoke. "You don't weigh very much, do you?" 

Grinning for the first time, Hali shook her head. "I probably don't weigh more than a few butterfree." 

He blinked. "Now _that_ is light..." 

------ 

"So you two have met already?" Corvet asked the ice and grass hybrids. 

"Yes." Aita replied. 

"Unfortunately..." Vair said at the same time. 

"There aren't very many female hybrids, are there?" Corvet observed. "There's us three, and then the bug, psychic, ground and dragon hybrids. The boys outnumber us." 

"Well, that can be both a good, and bad thing." Vair added with a wink. 

"So, what do you think of the others?" Corvet asked. 

"They seem alright... I talked to Keisuke-" 

"Keisuke?" Corvet repeated. 

"Or Blade," Vair added. "And he's a really nice guy." She continued. "Probably the sanest one of the males in my opinion. In battle, he's extremely focused, but you can tell that he hates killing. Xeth was pretty nice too, though he talks _a lot_. Tevas is also a nice guy, though something tells me that having him in the same place as Xeth is not a good idea... They're too similair in certain ways. Devin... well, I'm not sure if he counts as a girl or boy... He's kinda... both." 

"Dittos don't have genders, and Devin is a ditto hybrid. What gender 'he' chooses to appear as is his own decision." Aita informed her, slightly surprising the other two by joining in the conversation. 

"Oh, I guess that makes him an 'it' then..." Corvet supplied. "He/she's kind of like Xeth and Tevas when you think about it." 

Aita suddenly got up, dissapearing into a hallway. 

Corvet shook her head, watching the other hybrid go. "Have you ever seen such focused individuals before? Her, the lightning, psychic and dark hybrids? They seem to live only for the war..." 

Vair sighed. "We all do, Corvet. We have no other purpose in this world but to fight this war. I for one am counting on dying in it. Can you imaine any of us even trying to live normal lives, if-" 

"When." Corvet corrected. 

"When the war ends. People will never accept us. We may be the ones fighting for their freedom, but I don't think they'll ever accept us." 

"Such grim thinking..." Corvet muttered. "But you're right." Forcing a smile, however, she spoke again. "I am not going to shut myself off from the world like they have. I may die tomorrow, might as well enjoy life while I can." 

"I only wish I could see my life like you do..." Vair replied quietly. 

------ 

The lightning hybrid, Indenki, had not spoken a word since the 'incident'. He'd been quiet the whole time, keeping a 'calm' mask on. But if one searched hard enough, they could see the conflicting emotions fighting inside of him. He seemed to deeply regret what he had done. He had killed the men who might have helped bring about peace... Thankfully, Jarith Oak still lived, but he was in a coma. He couldn't do anything while in a coma. 

"You couldn't have known. We were all tricked." 

Indenki turned around to see the dark hybrid standing by him. "You're Shadow Seikou?" 

He nodded. 

"I know I couldn't have done anything, but it doesn't change what I've done." 

"What do you want to do then? You can't change the past." 

The electric hybrid was silent, seeming to think over the question. "I'm going to keep a close eye on Jarith. He must live. I'm not going to let Zentai get him." 

"Wise decision." Shadow replied, turning to go back to where he had been sitting, when Indenki spoke again. 

"Why did you talk to me?" Indenki asked, slightly curious. The older hybrid did not seem to be the kind who would want to comfort anyone, even himself, so why had he come? 

He did not get a spoken reply though. Shadow simply turned, staring at him with his glowing green eyes before turning again and leaving. 

/He's even better at keeping emotions hidden than I am... My eyes always betray me, but him, he keeps everything locked away from everyone, even himself./ Indenki looked over at the psychic hybrid who was levitating in an isolated spot. /She's also like us... And the ice hybrid to some extent. At least I can count on them not to interfere in anything I try to do. They understand me./ He looked over at the other hybrids. /Each one so different. Each has their own way of dealing with the pain we all feel about who we are, and what we must do.../ 

------ 

Blade had watched Shadow talk to Indenki from where he sat with Jorvis and Kaor, wondering what had caused the dark hybrid to actually speak to him. They were both such complex souls... All of them were really, but them, Siana, and Aita were four of the most complex. So was Xeth. Beneath the clownish demeanor, Blade could sense a great pain, most likely the loss of loved ones. 

"Hey, Keisuke, can you play any instrument?" Merideth asked, walking up. 

"Yes, why're you asking?" He stared at the dragon hybrid, somehow knowing that they'd become good friends someday. 

"Great! What do you play?" 

"A lot of things... But you still haven't answered why." 

She grinned, and tousled his hair. "Come on, I want you to play something for me." She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of his chair to an old piano that sat in the corner of the hideout. 

"Kenji has a piano?" He looked at the fighting hybrid in surprise. 

"It's not mine. It's Taru's." 

"Should've known. An insensitive b*st*rd like you wouldn't know the first thing about music." Erian taunted, immediately shut up by her older brother. 

Blade sat down on the stool, then looked at the keys, dusting them off with one hand. "What do you want me to play Merideth?" 

She sang a few lines, then asked him if he knew the song. 

"I've heard it a few times. Hold on." He tested the piano, pleased to find it in still in-tune. "Okay! One, two, three, go!" He started playing, and soon, Merideth accompanied him. It wasn't long before all chatting ceased, and everyone listened. Eventually, Swift joined her in singing, their voices bot complimenting each other's. Even Shadow, Indenki and Siana seemed to listen, for no one was immune to the soothing effect of music. The tune was simple, but enchanting, and Blade seemed to have a gift for playing the piano. His fingers moved fluidly over the keys, not striking the wrong one even once. Merideth had a voice that one might call a gift from the Gods. It was beautiful, and she knew how to use it well. Swift too could sing very well. 

Together, they reminded the other hybrids about the beauty of the world they lived in, and why they were risking their lives to bring peace. 

------------------------------------------ 


	16. Love and Sacrifice - Part 15

**LOVE AND SACRIFICE(v3)**

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): Loved ones lost_

Donari looked out of the window of her dorm room. Indenki and Shadow were out there somewhere, and they were alive, she was sure about that. The news report yesterday had proved it, but one thing she didn't understand, was why they had attacked the base during the peace talk. Had they been tricked into it something? That had to have been it. Shadow was not a terrorist, like the news reports claimed, he was a soldier fighting for peace. That was what he was trained for. 

One bit of evidence that it had not been planned as a terrorist attack was the fact that the five survivors had somehow been taken from the wreckage of the plane and laid safely on the ground far from it, but close enough to be found. The second was that the fire had been put out before the ambulance or firefighters could make it. 

Hearing her door open, Donari immediately slipped back to her desk, pretending that she had been studying for her biology test the next day. 

"Hey Donari, your parents are here to visit you." Her roommate said, peeking in. "They're outside the dorm." 

Her parents? It'd been a long time since she'd seen them. Grinning broadly, Donari leapt out of her chair and ran past her roommate, not minding the fact that she was barefooted. Taking the stairs two at a time, she made it to the dorm entrance in no time and flung herself into the arms of her mother and then her father. 

"Missed us?" Her mother asked slyly, reaching out to ruffle Donari's hair. "You cut it again, didn't you?" 

"I like it cut..." She twirled around so they could see her new hairstyle properly. It was cut short, just above her shoulders, but there were two long locks of hair that hung over her shoulders. 

"I think it's nice." Her father commented, smiling warmly at his daughter before suddenly dropping the pleasant attitude. "Donari, we're going to have to draw you out of the school again..." Inwardly, he winced when he saw the slightly hurt look in his daughter's eyes. "It's too dangerous. It won't be long before finds out who we are. Keeping Sacrifice hidden has been hard enough..." 

"Is he alright?" She asked worriedly, looking around to see if they had brought the charizard. 

"He's fine. So is Love. We had to leave them behind though." Her mother answered. "Come on, we need to leave now." 

"How are we going?" 

"By Fearow." 

"How can a fearow carry all three of us?" Donari asked, puzzled. 

Her father sighed. "Donari, we were practically born genetic engineers. Creating a large fearow for travel isn't hard. Now let's go." He scanned the area then stepped outside the door and pulled out a pokeball, releasing the fearow which was about three times the size of a normal one, then mounted. Donna got on behind him, and Donari sat behind her mother. 

Tahari kicked the bird lightly on the side, the command for it to take off. Silently, unlike most fearow, it lifted into the air; it's massive wings flapping strongly. Donari was tempted to ask her parents where they were going, but for one, she doubted they would answer, and even if they would, she probably wouldn't hear them as they were traveling at a high speed and the wind rushing past her ears was loud. 

Many times Donari had wished they could have just been a normal family. For the first ten or so years of her life, she had lived underground, only going out to the 'upperworld' a few times a year. Then they had been sent away... Turned out that the 'Tavis' name was a very well known one, as Tahari's great-grandparents had been the starters of Project H/C, and were well know peace talk leaders. Professor Mikoto had wanted them to try and unite some of the rebel factions in Arasia secretly, which was what they had been doing for the past few years. Donari, however, they put in boarding school under different names to keep her safe. 

To keep her safe, she knew little about what her parents were actually doing so that if she got discovered and captured, she wouldn't have anything to say. They cared so much about her, but Donari thought that love was wasted. Sei was only about a year younger than she was now when they abandoned him. If they had left her for any reason, she would have hated them. Choking down a sob, she remembered the last time they had seen Sei, and the way he had looked at them, as if he had disowned them... She no longer saw love in his eyes when they met, but an emotionless gaze, as if the old him had died, leaving behind an empty, soulless body. He had simply greeted them, and then left, slipping off as he so often did when he wanted to avoid human or even pokemon contact. No hugs, no slight smile. He hadn't even asked about Sacrifice or Love. 

Donari didn't blame him though, for he had every right to feel betrayed. They could have visited more, but her parents were always too busy. 'Too busy' to visit their first 'son', adopted or not, was not a valid excuse. But then, she couldn't blame her parents either. She had a feeling Professor Mikoto had a lot to do with their being separated, as he had been the one to send her parents away in the first place, and he had probably helped teach Sei how to hide his emotions so well, though she had a strange feeling that he had learnt most of that on his own. But why? Why would he have such a strong need to hide what he felt? 

Her thoughts were interrupted as the fearow started to circle and area, slowly descending. For no reason that she could think of, her mind wandered to think of Indenki. So unlike Xeth, the fire hybrid he had ended up traveling with. She giggled, remembering what an odd pair the two made. Xeth was a funny guy, and pleasant to talk to, so the two of them loved to chat, and got along well. Indenki however, didn't say much at all, unless he had to, and even then, he said what needed to be said in as few words as possible. He didn't seem to like her very much, but she decided that the fact that he hadn't killed her yet meant he at least didn't hate her. Somehow, she doubted he would ever kill her, though she knew he was not one to be underestimated. Like Sei, he was a born killer. 

They landed, and Donari was forced to push aside her thoughts of the three hybrids she had met. Dismounting the fearow, she was belatedly reminded that she wore no shoes as her feet were greeted with cold, wet grass. 

"Donari, the Kaitan Alliance was overthrown today in Arasia. Zentai has taken over." Her father informed her suddenly, breaking the silence. 

"Zentai?" The young girl had never heard the name before, but had a feeling she would learn what it was soon. 

Her mother explained. "Zentai. They were part of Team Rocket, and had been hiding under the guise of the Elite forces." 

Donari's brown eyes widened in surprise. "But...why are you telling me? You never tell me any of this stuff." The last sentence was said in a slightly accusatory tone. 

"We've been discovered." Tahari replied, casting his green eyes to the ground. "It won't be long before we're captured, and sooner or later, they may find you." 

Donna walked over to her husband, putting an arm around his shoulder and idly lacing her fingers in his black hair. "We want you to know who to be wary of when we're captured. We refuse to let them get you." 

"But-" 

"No buts. It's going to happen sooner or later. We've been able to keep hidden for this long, but our lucky streak was bound to end sometime. We leave you in charge of Love, Sacrifice, and this fearow." 

"But father, mother... Can't you do anything?" She pleaded, her eyes starting to water. 

"No, we can't. Not without putting you, or any of the rebel factions in trouble." Her father smiled proudly at her. "You'll be taken care of, so don't worry, and I know that you can take care of yourself." 

She nodded, now truly understanding to some extent how Sei must have felt. "Where are we going now?" 

"There's a base near here. We're going to drop you off, and then we're going to surrender." Her mother said. 

"Surrender? You're not even going to put up a fight? Since when did you go down without a fight mother?" Tears were now running freely down her cheeks, and she spoke in a fierce tone. Hadn't her parents told her time and time again about how her father had rescued her mother against her will? Of the countless times their lives had been put in danger? 

"We have done what we can." Her mother seemed slightly offended by what her daughter had said. "You need to learn that sometimes fighting is useless. We might just end up being killed if we fight back, and get the rebels discovered. Instead, us in exchange for their lives, and yours, is a fairer bargain. Don't argue with me Donari. I've been ready to give up my life from the start of this." 

Automatically, Tahari's eyes flickered down to her leg, the one that she had never regained proper control of because of her bullet wound. She was right though; Donna had always been ready to die from the start. Ever since he had known her, she had been one of the most dedicated assistants of the project. Originally, he too thought it was stupid to just give up your life. If it hadn't been for his stubborn streak, she would be dead now... But sometimes, sacrifices _were_ necessary, and this was one of those times. "Donari, please understand that we are doing this because we love you." He walked over to her and hugged her tightly, breaking it off abruptly before what was happening really sunk in . "Now come with us. We have a lot to tell you before we leave." 

Without a word, she nodded and followed her parents to the rebel group, listening intently. It was hard to accept the fact that her parents might die that night. And it was all because of the war. Zentai was going to pay for this... It was all their fault, and they were going to pay dearly, or her name wasn't Donari Tavis! 

When they reached the base, her parents introduced her to the leaders of that group, but Donari didn't listen, or pay any attention to them. She simply nodded, and shook their hands. Her attention was focused on observing her parents, who were trying to appear calm, but she could sense that they were still frightened. What of, she wasn't sure... 

After what seemed like an hour of introductions to Donari, her parents handed her a silver necklace, but she only half listened to their explanation of the heart shaped locket really being some sort of high-tech pokeball. Then they hugged her, said their final good-byes and left the base. 

That was when she snapped out of her trance, struggling fiercely against the restraints of whoever it was that held her until a pokemon used some sort of sleep attack on her, and despite her attempts to ward it off, sleep eventually took over. For some strange reason, the last words out of her mouth were, "Sei, Indenki..." 

_______________________________________ 


	17. Love and Sacrifice - Part 16

**LOVE AND SACRIFICE(v3)**

_Love and Sacrifice(v3): A break from the war_

Swift woke up with a start, breathing heavily as his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness that surrounded him. /Just a nightmare... Nothing to be scarred of from dreams.../ He thought to himself, sitting up and looking around, making out the shapes of the other sleeping hybrids. Judging by the rhythmic rising and falling of their chest, they were all sound asleep, and he was the only one awake, however, he caught a slight flash of light green in an isolated corner, and remembered that the dark hybrid had eyes of those color. Quickly counting the sleeping forms assured him that it *was* the dark hybrid's eyes that he saw, for there was one body missing. 

Rising slowly, careful not to disturb those sleeping near him, he stepped over everything and everyone, making his way over to the dark hybrid. Why he was doing that, he didn't know, but he figured that if someone else was awake, he might as well talk to them or something. When he reached the other hybrid, he sat down, eyes transfixed on the older boy. "Why are you awake?" He finally asked softly. 

The green eyes flickered open again and turned to look at the flying hybrid. They lingered there for a while before closing again. "I don't sleep at night." 

The flying hybrid nodded, wondering why he hadn't thought of that. Of course the dark hybrid didn't sleep at night, that was the time that dark pokemon were most active. Same with some flying pokemon, which was why Swift found it easy to sleep any time, night or day. "Do you have any idea what the other hybrids have planned for tomorrow? We can't stay here forever." 

"No." 

"Why are you so withdrawn?" 

The question actually startled the dark hybrid, for he opened his eyes and looked at Swift again. But he did not answer. 

"I didn't expect you to reply anyway." The younger hybrid shrugged, drawing his wings over his body to keep himself warm. "And I understand why you keep to yourself, but you shouldn't be so quiet. You have more experience than the rest of us, and there's a lot you could teach us." He stood up, his wings still folded over his body. "I'm going back to sleep now." He walked off. 

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"Hey, shouldn't we properly introduce ourselves?" Blade asked, getting up from where he sat at the round table. 

Xeth put down the piece of toast he'd been about to inhale and nodded. "Great idea! Who want to start?" 

From his seat next to Xeth, Tevas raised his hand. "I'll go first. As you should be able to tell, I'm the ghost hybrid. My name is Tevas, I'm from Corse, and I'm fifteen." 

"My name's Xeth, also from Corse, fifteen, and the fire hybrid." 

"My name's Devin, from Eurel, fifteen, the normal hybrid, and incase you were wondering, no I don't have a specified gender." The currently brown haired girl grinned, and then winked. 

"Swift, from Eurel, sixteen, flying hybrid." 

They went around the table, stating their ages, type, names and where they were from. When they were done, again, the steel hybrid stood and spoke. 

"I know many of us are still suspicious of each other," A quick glance around the table. "but I have a feeling we're all on the same side, we all have the same goals, and if we work together, it'll be much easier for us to bring down Zentai." Here he paused and sighed, lowering his eyes to his plate briefly before raising them to meet the eyes of the other hybrids. "Unfortunately, I also have a feeling that's not going to happen. We're too independent, been working alone for too long, and we don't know _how_ to work together. We can try, but by tonight, most, if not all of us, will be out on our own again. All I can say is 'Good Luck', and I hope we'll meet again, hopefully, as allies and not enemies." For a moment, he considered sitting down again, but decided not to. Instead, he left the table returned to the room where they had all gathered the night before. 

He sat down on the couch he had slept on, tilting his head back and resting it over the edge. /We share the same pain of not belonging anywhere, but we do belong somewhere... We belong together. Why can't we all just see it?/ A slight smile crept onto his face. /How ironic of me. I give them a speech about how we will never work together, then I sit here and mope about how we _should_ be together. But for that to happen, we need a leader, and who's willing to take that position? Me? Never./ 

The hybrid suddenly heard and chuckle infront of him, and he raised his head and opened his eyes. "What's so funny?" 

Siana smiled and then sat down next to the younger hybrid, placing one hand on her shoulder in a rare gesture of intimacy, for those with psychic abilities tended to avoid psychical contact. "Why are you called Keisuke even though you are from Eurel?" She asked, ignoring his question. 

"My mother was from Arasia." He replied, locking back the wave of guilt that washed over him. His mother had died giving birth to him, but had lived long enough to name him. "But what was so funny?" 

"Your thoughts." 

"You read my mind?" 

"Not purposely. Humans and pokemon tend to project their thoughts and feelings without knowing it. I just happened to be passing by, and found what you were thinking humorous." Despite the smile that lingered on her face, there was no hint of mirth in her blank, golden eyes. "You constantly contradict yourself, and you realize it, but continue to do it." 

He simply blinked, and she sighed. 

"You will understand what I find funny later." Her tone was slightly disappointed, as if she had expected him to also find it funny. "The war has only just begun, and we have only just met. Oh, and yes, you are one of the very few people, or pokemon, who has ever seen me smile, let alone heard me laugh." She withdrew her hand from his shoulder and stood. "By the way, great speech. You got the other's thinking." 

"Uh, thank you." He replied, though he wasn't sure if she heard him for she teleported out. 

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Swift entered the training room in the basement and looked around, his blue and white eyes widened in pleased surprise. It was well equipped, and more than adequate for him to get a little exercise. 

"Hey Swift, look at Shadow." 

He turned to see the little steel hybrid watching the dark hybrid in awe, and his own jaw nearly dropped down in amazement. The dark hybrid was incredibly flexible! Like an acrobat or a gymnast. He was practicing on the equipment, and the ease with which he performed various moves was very deceiving to the actual difficulty of the exercises. 

"He should've been born with wings..." Swift muttered under his breath, wishing the dark hybrid _had_ been born with wings... The things he could have taught him to do! If someone could do what he was doing on the ground, with gravity, imagine what they could do in the air? 

All of a sudden, the dark hybrid stopped, landing with a soft thud on the matt below the equipment. His eyes were closed, but his eyes were twitching in the way that the eevee evolutions' ears did when they were listening. They stopped moving, and he turned his head, eyes still closed, to the direction of where Blade and Swift were. 

"You're very good." Swift said, causing the older hybrid to finally open his dead eyes. 

The dark hybrid froze, looking from Swift to Blade. If it were not for the blank look in his eyes, his expression could have been described as that of a rattata caught between two persians. He seemed unsure of how to reply, as if he was not used to being complimented, which was probably the case. "A...Arigatou[1]." He finally repied, somehow forgetting that the other two hybrids most likely did not speak his native tongue. As soon as the word was out of his mouth, he slipped out before they could speak again. 

"A bit rusty when it comes to interacting with others, don't you think?" Swift commented, looking at the door. 

"Very rusty..." Blade replied. 

The door swung open and an chattering Xeth entered, dragging a bewildered male Devin in 'default' human form behind him, while Tevas[2] floated by their side, an amused look on his face. 

"Xeth, on the other hand, is definitely *not* rusty." Blade added, and Swift could only nod, a smile on his face as they watched Xeth exuberantly try and talk Devin into playing a quick game of basketball with him. 

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/I wonder what they're talking about.../ Kaor thought to himself as he walked by a room and saw Siana saying something to Shadow. He'd caught the name 'Blade', and found it odd that they'd be disscussing the young hybrid. Well, not necessarily young as in he was several years younger than the others, but just that he _seemed_ so much younger than all of them in his own way... He seemed so vulnerable really, though he wasn't, not with those steel blades, and judging from his little talk at breakfast, he was smart, and not afraid of saying what he felt. In other words, he was one of those people who fit under the category of 'Appearances _are_ deceiving'. 

Shrugging it off, he continued walking out through the hallways, simply wanting to find out where all the other hybrids were, and discover a little about the layout of the underground section of the dojo. Despite the tiny size of the upper part of the structure, the lower part was humungous, and although when you first entered it, it seemed rather tiny, after much exploration, he'd discovered countless paths and rooms. The training room had been one of the first places for everyone else to head to, and he would have gone in there, but he really didn't feel like using up his energy... Training really wasn't one of his top concerns, for he could easily kill someone if they even just touched him. 

"But Deh~vin! Basketball's fun, and good exercise." Footsteps were heard running towards the poison hybrid. 

"I said _no_ Xeth. Ask Tevas, he's from Corse too." 

"I'd rather not play basketball... Not my type of sport. Besides, I have too much of an advantage. I _am_ the ghost hybrid afterall." 

The three hybrids rounded the corner, and stopped in their conversation when they saw Kaor. 

"Hey! I never got to thank you for saving me yesterday!" Xeth grinned, and walked up to Kaor. "You have good aim." 

"Thanks. It's a handy skill when I can't use poison attacks." 

"Yeah, well... Oh! Want to play basketball?" 

Kaor shook his head. "No thanks. I'm not really a sports person." 

Sighing, the fire hybrid snapped his fingers in disappointment. "D*mn, no one wants to play basketball!" 

Rolling his... it's?... eyes, Devin finally gave in. "Fine, I'll play with you!" 

"Alright!" 

Kaor smiled slightly, actually glad for the presence of the three other hybrids. They were entertaining to say the least... Loud mouthed Xeth, relatively quiet, and reserved, Devin, and observant Tevas... "I'll see you guys later. Have fun with your game." Leaving as they started to argue about how long the games should be, Kaor nearly bumped into Merideth who was running down the hall with Vair close behind her. 

"Hey Kaor!" The dragon hybrid chirped cheerfully, smiling warmly at him. "Want to play a card game with us? We need more players. At _least_ three." 

"Please Kaor? We're probably not going to all be together like this again, and tonight we all go our own ways." Vair added, a hopeful smile on her face. 

Merideth intervened. "Aita doesn't want to play, Erian's pestering Kenji, Swift and Blade are talking somewhere, Xeth, Devin and Tevas are in the training room, there's no chance that Shadow, Siana or Indenki will play, Jorvis is talking to Erian's older brother, Hali is discussing something with Corvet, and that leaves us, and you." 

Wondering just how she'd learnt the names of all the other hybrids so fast, Kaor dumbly nodded. "I've nothing better to do." 

"Great! Have you ever played 'Eeveelutionary'?" 

"No..." 

"Well, neither has Merideth, I'll just have to teach you." 

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[1] Arigatou - It means thank you. I might have spelt it wrong though... ^_^  
[2] Heh, I keep forgetting whether the ghost hybrid's name is Tevas or Tevax... >_< I'm pretty sure it's Tevas though...  


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